8 February 2002 Saved face of Lincoln University

A remembrance service for the lady who saved the face of Lincoln University packed the campus' Memorial Hall on 29 January with academics, family members and friends from throughout New Zealand.

The service was for Ruth, Lady Burns, widow of Sir Malcolm Burns, Principal of Lincoln from 1952-1974, in the days when it was Lincoln College.

Lady Burns died in Auckland on 3 January aged 89.

Born in Columbus, Missouri, USA and a graduate of Cornell University, Ruth came to Lincoln in 1937 when her Kiwi husband Malcolm (whom she had met at Cornell) was appointed senior lecturer in soil science. Thus began a lifetime's involvement with Lincoln College and the educational and cultural life of this country.

She served almost 10 years on the national committee of UNESCO, three years as national Vice-President of the NZ Federation of University Women, a period as the federation's national Treasurer and 10 years as Canterbury branch president.

Lady Burns' enduring memorial is historic Ivey Hall, the distinctive architectural centrepiece of the Lincoln University campus, named after the institution's first Director, William Edward Ivey.

The Jacobean style structure, designed by Frederick Strouts and built over 1878-1880, was the first building on the Lincoln campus.

Down the years, generations of students lived and learned within its walls and it became universally identified as the face of Lincoln. In 1963 however, its existence was threatened when Government architects proposed its demolition as an earthquake risk.

Destruction of the hall was passionately opposed by Lady Burns and for the next 20 years she campaigned tirelessly for its preservation. She lobbied the College Council to set up an Ivey Hall Fund (which it did) and she herself contributed generously, raising money through the sale of paintings and the publication of a book on the hall's architectural features.

Lady Burns' hopes were realised in 1986 when the Government granted $4 million to restore and redevelop Ivey Hall as the campus library.

The library was opened in 1989 and a garden area within its precincts was named the Ruth Burns Courtyard.

It was at the official opening of the library in February 1989 that the then Deputy Prime Minister, Geoffrey Palmer, announced the pending elevation of Lincoln College to full university status.

"Without the foresight and campaigning of Lady Burns Lincoln University would have lost its most distinctive physical feature and an historic New Zealand landmark would have disappeared," says the University's Alumni Manager Rebecca McIntosh.

"To generations of students Ivey Hall is the 'face' of Lincoln, and it remains in place today thanks to Lady Burns."

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.