National Football Foundation

A leader on and off the field, Tom Burns built a stellar reputation at the University of Virginia, establishing himself as one of the greatest student-athletes to ever attend the school founded by Thomas Jefferson.
 
A two-year starter at linebacker and four-year performer, Burns became one of Virginia’s all-time leading tacklers with 200 career stops, placing him 15th on the Cavalier all-time roster at the time of his graduation. Burns notched a career-high 90 tackles as a senior, amassing double-digit tackles in five contests. Virginia tallied a 30-16-1 record during his four seasons with the Cavaliers.
 
He compiled a 3.92 GPA as a nuclear engineering major, and he was twice named a CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American. His many academic accolades during his senior year include the Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award, the Jim Tatum Award and the ACC’s Weaver-James Postgraduate Award.
 
As a junior, Burns won the University of Virginia’s Gray-Carrington Scholarship Award, given each year to a Virginia student who excels in areas of personal integrity, achievement, leadership and humility.
 
After finishing his football career, Burns received a joint bachelor’s/master’s degree in 1995 and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering in 1999 from Virginia. Burns then began his career as an executive for MPR Associates, a consulting firm.
 
He also previously worked for the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board and as a consultant to the U.S. and international commercial nuclear power industries.
 
The Clinton, Maryland, native became one of the youngest vice presidents at Parsons Corporation, where he currently serves as Senior Vice President-SWPF Director of Engineering for Government Services.