I asked a few professors here who was the smartest student they ever had. Two, John Rossi and George Stow of the history dept., said William Burns, Jr. a 1978 grad who went on to do graduate work at Oxford. Burns has been ambassador to Jordan and Russia and on 9/8 wil be named Deputy Secretary of State. He has a helluva resume (fluent in three languages, special envoy on numerous occasions), but I wondered what would attract the Inquirer or Daily News about him. Well, his roots in Philly, for one, but in my emails to the papers I told two stories about Burns and what Rossi and Stow said. Stow recalled how he was lecturing and Burns was in the back of the room with his head bowed and hands folded in his lap. Stow thought Burns was bound for trouble, but after reading the first two pages of his first test Stow was astonished at what Burns wrote: he had absorbed all the lectures and readings.
I was hoping the two contrasts: the seemingly unasuminig but brillliant student who also happens to be a pretty good basketblal player, would intrigue them. I guess it did. Here's a link to the story:
http://www.philly.com/philly/insights/in_education/20110905_Soon_to_be_deputy_secretary_of_state__William_Burns_set_his_course_at_La_Salle.html
I also mentioned to the Inquirer and Daily News that Burns was a pretty good basketball player! On 9/5, the Inquirer ran a longish story about Burns; here's the link
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burns had a great jumper and was also the owner of a ridiculous vertical leap. he could fly through the air with the best of 'em. he once won a year's supply of dream chimney donuts for winning a dunk contest on a 7 foot basket. love that kid still.
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