Malcolm Burns

Sir Malcolm McRae Burns KBE (19 March 1910 – 17 October 1986) was a New Zealand agricultural scientist, university lecturer and administrator.

Burns was born in Ashley Bank, North Canterbury on 19 March 1910. He joined Canterbury Agricultural College in 1937 as a lecturer and after the war led the revival of Association of University Staff of New Zealand (later Association of Staff in Tertiary Education, now the Tertiary Education Union). In 1952 he became director of Lincoln. In 1962, the organisation was renamed Lincoln College, and Burns' title changed to principal.

In the 1959 New Year Honours Burns was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and was promoted to Knight Commander of the same order in the 1972 Queen's Birthday Honours.

He retired from Lincoln in 1974, and his legacy is that he gave it its strong research focus, which has gained international recognition. In the same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science (DSc) from the University of Canterbury.

Burns retired to Christchurch, where he died on 17 October 1986. Lincoln became an independent university in 1990, The Burns Wing on Lincoln's campus commemorates him.