Annie Hunt Burriss Bestowed Honorary Life Member Status
Annie Hunt Burriss, CEcD, EdD and co-founder of Universal Biome, was made an Honorary Life Member by the Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA) at its Annual Awards luncheon yesterday. Burriss is being recognized for her long, exceptional and exemplary career and service to GEDA.
Burriss served as the Chair of GEDA in 1999 and was the recipient of the GEDA Rip Wiley Award for Professional Excellence, the highest honor for professional economic developers in Georgia, in 2005.
Annie has worked with and been on boards of higher education with several institutions, including Augusta University, Oglethorpe University, Emory University Board of Visitors, Georgia Tech’s National Advisory Board, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Chancellor’s Research Development Steering Committee. She was appointed to the Georgia Medical Center Authority and Technical College System of Georgia state board as well as the mayor’s Augusta Arts Alliance Initiative. She’s currently on the boards of the Carter Center,
Georgia Humanities and the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. Georgia Trend has named her five times to its annual 100 Most Influential Georgians.
She was loaned by the Regents to serve as Governor Sonny Perdue’s deputy chief of staff for Policy, Legislative Affairs & Executive Appointments as well as executive director of his Commission for a New Georgia, which begat Georgia’s first targeted industries, as well as changed the name to the current Georgia Department of Economic Development from Industry, Trade & Tourism; CNG outcomes made Governing Magazine name Georgia as one of the nation’s top five best managed states.
Burriss cut her teeth in industrial development as a Project Manager with the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism; her economic development career includes DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Power and staffing Governor Zell Miller’s existing industries tax benefits program. She was the first to pioneer nationally a state university system economic development program, linking up Georgia’s 34 colleges and universities on behalf of growing intellectual capital as the business capital for the future and creating good jobs for Georgians. Annie helped to start Georgia BIO to grow the state’s life sciences industry after successfully securing the national headquarters relocation of the American Cancer Society to Atlanta. A serial entrepreneur, she has started up six non-profit corporations.
From 2012-2016 Annie was the first chief executive officer for George Mason University’s Science & Technology Campus in northern Virginia and also served as Executive Officer of External Affairs for GMU’s university advancement and alumni relations. She is a Lead Virginia and Leadership Georgia alum.
Burriss earned her doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. She has a Master of City Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology and fine arts degrees from Stephens College of Missouri and Sullins College of Virginia. She was the first woman in Georgia to earn the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council.
Most recently, she has been involved in national consulting in economic and community development, collaborating with a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in the launch of a biomedical company and with her own company, AHB Solutions, LLC. Burriss is still making connections, having been named to the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2021.
Annie received the award at the Monday luncheon from Bert Brantley, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governmental Affairs at the Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan also addressed event attendees and congratulated all the winners. Nearly 100 economic developers from around the state attended the ceremony in-person and another thirty attended virtually.