Willie Burnett, director of the Office of Alumni Affairs at Tuskegee University in Alabama, died earlier this week at a nursing home in Montgomery. He was 70 years old.
Burnett’s career at Tuskegee spanned more than 40 years. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1966 and a master’s degree in 1968, Burnett joined the Office of Alumni Affairs and was instrumental in the university’s fundraising efforts over the next 43 years. Burnett not only raised money form others but was an abundant contributor to the university. He established the Willie M. Burnett Endowed Scholarship Fund for Tuskegee students.
Tuskegee President Gilbert L. Rochon stated that Burnett showed “an unsurpassed devotion and dedication to the university’s alumni, its faculty, its staff, and especially its students.”
Mr. Willie Burnett was a “go to” force at Tuskegee University. He devoted so much of his life to Alma Mater; he will be missed.
Ethel H. Russaw
Class of 1964
Willie Burnett’s name and work at Tuskegee cannot be erased. A devoted alumnus.
Willie Burnett’s tireless efforts and devotion toward humankind will always be remembered by ‘SkeegeWorld.
R.I.P.