Academy of Distinguished Alumni

  • Alumni Image #1:
  • Image Caption Title #1: Construction of Concrete Slabs
  • Image Caption #1: An expert in the area of prestressed concrete, Burns was the first to test the concept of banded tendons that is now standard industry practice for the construction of slabs. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 “for contributions to development and education in prestressed concrete including unbounded tendon building slabs and high-performance concrete bridges.”
  • Alumni Image #2:
  • Image Caption Title #2: Prestressed Concrete Beam Fabrication
  • Image Caption #2: Along with T.Y. Lin, Ned co-authored the textbook, "Design of Prestressed Concrete”, a source book in the industry for the analysis and design of prestressed structures for many decades. At the end of each class that he taught at UT, he would give his students his philosophy of engineering and life: "The truly great man is he who plants shade trees that he will never sit under."
headshot of Ned Burns

ned burns

Ned H. Burns

Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana, 1962
M.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1958
B.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1954

An expert in the area of prestressed concrete, Ned Burns was the first to test the concept of banded tendons that is now standard industry practice for the construction of slabs. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 “for contributions to development and education in prestressed concrete including unbounded tendon building slabs and high-performance concrete bridges." An outstanding teacher, administrator and structural engineering researcher, he served UT for nearly 40 years.

Burns began his career at The University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor in 1962. He enjoyed a successful career in teaching and directing Structural Engineering Research until he retired in 2001. He became a professor in 1972 and in 1983 was named Zarrow Centennial Professor. He was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Engineering from 1989-1993.

Burns has received 11 awards for outstanding teaching and advising at undergraduate and graduate levels from the department, college and university levels at University of Texas at Austin. He began prestressed concrete research at UT in 1963 and was the first to test the concept of banded tendons that is standard industry practice for the construction of slabs.

He served as Chairman of the ACI/ASCE Prestressed Concrete Committee and was on the Board of Directors of ACI and PTI. He has authored more than 55 technical papers in the major structural engineering journals, presented at various conferences throughout the world, and his co-authored textbook, "Design of Prestressed Concrete", with T.Y. Lin has been the source book in the industry for the analysis and design of prestressed structures for many decades.

He was awarded the Joe W. Kelly Award in 1990 by the ACI in recognition for his contribution to education and received the PCI Distinguished Professor Award in 2000. Dr. Burns is a fellow of the ACI, PCI and PTI and ASCE and was named Engineer of the Year by the Travis Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in 2000. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his contribution to education and research in prestressed concrete and high-performance prestressed concrete bridges.