September 16, 2025
Dear Members of the Sewanee Community,
I am very pleased to announce that Burns Jones, C’95, has accepted the position of vice-president of university relations for the University. Burns will join the senior leadership team of the University in the summer of 2026 after completing his 11th year as head of school at the Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco, California.
Burns will bring a wealth of executive, educational, and fundraising experience and leadership to his new position at Sewanee. The Cathedral School is a nationally recognized Episcopal school in one of the most competitive markets in the country. As head of school, Burns has led a comprehensive strategic planning process and a multimillion-dollar campaign that included endowment and annual fund growth, and major campus renovations. He has also led a campus master planning process and initiatives that resulted in increasing the diversity of the student body and enhancing the benefits and professional development opportunities for the faculty and staff. While at the Cathedral School, Burns has also served on the board of the National Association of Episcopal Schools.
Prior to his time at the Cathedral School, Burns served as head of the Canterbury School in Greensboro, North Carolina; as a division director at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, South Carolina; and as an English teacher and the director of development at Christ School in Asheville, North Carolina. Throughout his administrative career, he has continued to teach courses in English. He began his professional career as an attorney practicing in Columbia, South Carolina.
In addition to his Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of the South, Burns holds a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Arts in English from Middlebury College.
Burns and his wife, Elizabeth Bibb Jones, C’96, have two sons, Wyatt (a current sophomore at Sewanee) and Crawford (a 9th-grade student at the Branson School in Marin, California). The Jones family has a multigenerational relationship with the University of the South and extensive experience with the national Episcopal Church.
I look forward to welcoming the Jones family to Sewanee next summer. Yours Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Rob Pearigen
Vice-Chancellor and President
