Education

B.A., Economics, University of North Carolina
M. Div., Union Theological Seminary
M.S., Broadcast Journalism, Northwestern University

Teaching

Andy Burns' focus is on de-mystifying the process of journalism — stripping away the rules, guidelines, "must-dos" — and reminding students the form is pretty simple: tell interesting and informative stories that benefit society. He also is interested in the "mini-documentary," having produced the Hidden Columbia series while at WOLO.

Personal

Burns is a native of Dalton, Georgia (Carpet Capital of the world — yes, really), a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (go Heels!) and a former sixth grade teacher at Julia Roberts' middle school. Burns first came to Columbia as a morning/noon anchor and reporter at WOLO-TV, and was invited to teach a class as an adjunct faculty member at USC. This year, he joins the university full time. He has previous reporting experience in Charleston, the District of Columbia, Chicago and (as a traffic reporter) in New York City.