| Clinton Sumner Burns | |
| Birth Date: | 26 October 1871 |
| Birth Place: | Waverly, Iowa, United States |
| Death Place: | Kansas City, Missouri, United States |
| Occupation: | civil engineer, Business executive |
Clinton Sumner Burns (1871–1924) was a prominent civil engineer and business executive who, with Robert Emmett McDonnell, a classmate at Stanford University formed an engineering company under the firm name of Burns & McDonnell. His work involved practically every state in the country, designing water and sewer systems in over five hundred cities[1] as well as being an honorary member of the Sigma Xi.
In 2010, Burns and McDonnell were inducted into the Greater Kansas City Business Hall of Fame.
Clinton Sumner Burns was born at Waverly Iowa on October 26, 1871, the son of Heman Hoit Burns (1842-1917)[2] and Laura Root Burns (1845-1881).[3] [4] His early education was obtained in the public schools at Port Byron NY where he lived with his grandmother and at Cornell University.[4] During this period, he acted in a part-time capacity as Assistant City Engineer of Niagara Falls, New York and working on the Erie Canal and on other State canals.[4] Burns went on to finish his education in civil engineering at Stanford University in 1897. After his graduation, Burns went to Kansas City, Missouri where he entered the employ of the City Park Department under George Kessler.[4]
In 1898, Burns and Robert E McDonnell, a fellow classmate at Stanford University, formed an engineering company under the firm name of Burns and McDonnell.[4]
The following is a partial bibliography of works authored or co-authored by Burns.
Burns was awarded two patents in the United States:
Burns died on April 1, 1924. He worked in "practically every State in the Union."[4] Burns was also an honorary member of the Sigma Xi having been elected in 1905 from the Stanford University Chapter [4] as well as a member of the American Institute of Consulting Engineers.[4] In 2010, Burns was inducted into the Greater Kansas City Business Hall of Fame along with his partner Robert E McDonnell.[6]
Burns's advice to consulting engineers was to recognize that the
"(C)ompetition will come not from other members of the engineering profession but from land surveyors who claim to be engineers and from the horde of salesmen and representatives of contracting companies who offer to make plans and specifications for practically nothing in consideration for which the interested company is to be given the order for certain or awarded the contract for constructing the plant. Such propositions will never appeal to a good businessman, but unfortunately, an engineer's clients are oftentimes not far-sighted in such matters. The practicing engineer cannot hope to secure much business along this branch of the profession until he has a reputation for absolute honesty untainted commissions or connections with construction companies."[7]
- Stanford Illustrated Review, Volume 25, Issue 8, pg 434.