Council Member Burke Awarded Honorary Doctorate by ECSU

City Secretary - Jan. 12, 2012

EDS: Photo attached. Photo caption: ECSU Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist presents Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke an honorary Doctor of Public Service during the fall 2011 commencement. Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth City State University

Council Member and Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke has received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Elizabeth City State University. Burke, an alumna of ECSU and former member of the board of trustees who has a scholarship named in her honor, received the honorary degree last month during the university’s fall 2011 commencement.

In awarding the degree, the ECSU Board of Trustees and Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist noted Burke’s years of service as a school guidance counselor, field office manager for the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, and coordinator of the Another Change program at Winston-Salem State University, in addition to her service on the Winston-Salem City Council since 1977.

This is Burke’s third honorary doctorate. In 2002 Livingstone College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and in 2004 Winston-Salem State also awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.