THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310429
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
For Elizabeth City State University, the future begins Friday when Dr. Mickey L. Burnim, a Texas-born economist-turned-educator, takes over as interim chancellor.
Burnim, a passionate football fan whose son is playing defensive safety at the University of Virginia this year, will fill in for Chancellor Jimmy R. Jenkins.
``If I'm needed on Saturdays when Virginia is playing, you'll know where to look,'' the 46-year-old Burnim said Wednesday in Durham, where he has been provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at North Carolina Central University since 1990.
Burnim's appointment as interim ECSU chancellor was announced Tuesday in Chapel Hill by C.D. Spangler Jr., president of the University of North Carolina.
``Mickey Burnim has impressive academic qualifications, extensive administrative experience and the qualities of character required to shepherd this important Northeastern constituent of the University of North Carolina,'' said Spangler.
``I am grateful that he has agreed to serve as interim chancellor.''
Burnim was discovered academically by William Friday, a celebrated former president of UNC and Spangler's predecessor, who remains familiar to anyone who watches UNC programs on public television.
After winning a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1977, Burnim joined the faculty of Florida State University, where Friday tapped him in 1982 for a job as assistant vice president for academic affairs at UNC. Burnim became N.C. Central's chief academic officer in 1986 and assumed a second post as provost four years later.
``Dr. Burnim's a very winning man, very caring,'' said English professor Patsy B. Perry, director of the N.C. Central honors program.
``Students quickly identify with him because he's youthful in appearance and pays attention to their stories. We hate to lose him, but he's ready to grow,'' added Perry.
The appointment of the temporary chancellor begins a long process of selecting a permanent successor to Jenkins.
While Spangler is required to select the interim chancellor, a permanent head of ECSU will ultimately be elected by a vote of the UNC Board of Governors.
``A special committee formed by the ECSU Board of Trustees will soon begin a search for a permanent chancellor,'' said Joni Worthington, Spangler's spokesperson at Chapel Hill. ``The trustees will forward the names of at least two finalists to president Spangler for his consideration. Then a new chancellor, upon nomination by the president, must be elected by the UNC Board of Governors.
No ceremonial ruffles and flourishes will greet the new acting chancellor when he arrives this week on the ECSU campus.
``Nothing special has been planned as far as we know,'' said a spokesperson in the ECSU chancellor's office.
In Durham, Burnim said he planned to simply ``go to work on Friday in Elizabeth City.''
Without elaboration, Spangler's announcement said Jenkins, the departing chancellor, will ``remain on the ECSU faculty.'' Jenkins has served ECSU for 12 years as chancellor and has tenure as a professor.
In his resignation letter Aug. 3, Jenkins told Spangler that he planned to take a few months off to polish up his teaching technique and then return to ECSU as a biology instructor. Jenkins holds a doctorate in biology from Purdue University.
Jenkins received $95,000 in annual salary as chancellor. Burnim would not comment on Jenkins' future as an ECSU teacher other than to say he had known Jenkins professionally for several years.
Burnim was born in the small town of Teague, deep in the heart of Texas.
``My mother and father were both teachers, and I grew up expecting to go to college,'' he said with precise enunciation. ``I started out at North Texas State and got degrees in economics. I went on to Wisconsin for my doctorate studies.
``And someplace along the way, I discovered my great interest in education,'' said Burnim.
The selection of Burnim ends intense speculation about who would run ECSU after Jenkins steps down this week.
Spangler's announcement of an interim chancellor eliminates Paul F. Vandergrift Jr., a former Marine and UNC television administrator, who was sent by Spangler last year to help Jenkins in Elizabeth City.
Rumors of a rift between Vandergrift and Jenkins preceded Jenkins' abrupt resignation earlier this month. Soon, Vandergrift figured prominently as a contender for the ECSU interim-chancellor appointment, but he has since accepted an administrative post at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh.
While Burnim was pursuing his academic career in economics, he married his high school sweetheart, the former LaVera Levels. Their daughter, Cinnamon, is a George Washington University graduate who is a journalist with the Catholic Standard in Washington. Their son, Adrian, is the football-playing student of marketing at the University of Virginia. ILLUSTRATION: Dr. Mickey L. Burnim
Economist-turned-educator
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB