DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Jane Offutt Burns College of Business MBA Class of 1968
ENDOWINGOPPORTUNITY Overcoming obstacles and achieving personal and professional “firsts” has been a defining characteristic for Jane Offutt Burns (BSC ’61, MBA ’68). “By age six, I knew college was critical and expensive,” Jane recalls. Growing up on a farm in Taylorsville, Kentucky, where her parents struggled financially to earn college degrees, Jane was motivated to take a different path. “I was saving all my birthday money, along with bonds from a generous uncle.” Despite her thriftiness, her savings were insufficient “until UofL 12
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offered me a scholarship, and everything changed.” After graduating — and passing her CPA exam on the first attempt—UofL was there again, with the opportunity to earn an MBA through night classes while she worked full-time in a local accounting firm. “Without UofL,” she says, “most of my career wouldn’t have happened.” Contending throughout her life with a learning disability that was undiagnosed until six years ago, Jane often felt inadequate. However, as she found her niche in English and math, and focused on what she could do well, rather than on what she couldn’t do, she realized, “Everyone has a disability in some area but excels in other areas. For me, tax was where I could excel. It was an always changing
UofL College of Business: CURRENCY
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