Name: Jack Burns
Job title: Professor
Department: Leadership Studies
How long have you worked at Whitworth? Finishing my 14th year
What do you like best about your job? The opportunity to build deep, Christ-focused relationships with students
In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? Beginning as an undergraduate at WSU, and for a total of nine years, I was a volunteer Young Life leader at Pullman High School. My gifts seemed to match the Young Life approach to ministry: building relationships with kids so that the gospel can be shared. A Whitworth faculty colleague (who was my Young Life leader when he was a Whitworth student) once told me (I think he meant it as a compliment) that my faculty position at Whitworth was simply a vehicle to allow me to be a Young Life leader for Whitworth students. I have been blessed to do a lot of things over these last 14 years at Whitworth, but the ministry to students has been where my gifts and talents line up most consistently.
Favorite book: So many, but East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck are right up there
Favorite movie: I'm not much of a movie person. I go when forced.
Favorite food: I've never met a Thai dish that I haven't liked.
Favorite music: Classical – starts with Bach and ends with Bach, but lots of others in between
Favorite animal: Dog
Guilty pleasure: A glass of fine merlot, a good book, a fire in the fireplace, a Bach concerto playing in the background, a thick steak cooking on the grill, and my dog sleeping at my feet.
Hobbies: Skiing, running, fishing, reading, writing
Best vacation ever: Family ski trips to Mt. Bachelor
Birthplace: Missoula, Montana
We'd be surprised to know that...I have beaten every level of "Angry Birds" and have earned three stars on each level.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Greece and Turkey
If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? I'd either be a NASCAR driver or a biblical scholar proficient in all of the biblical languages.
What is your favorite sound? Grandkids laughing
Favorite childhood TV show: "Rin Tin Tin"
If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? I'd go with my wife, Kristi. First, we'd go to Norway and sail around in the areas where her family is from, then we'd go through Scotland and trace my roots. We'd end the trip sailing and seeing biblical sights in and around Greece, Turkey, and Israel.
Best high school class subject: Lunch
