DENVER – The University of Denver Division of Athletics and Recreation community lost one of its most impactful leaders as our beloved Joy S. Burns passed away at age 92 on Friday. A DU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee in 1997, Burns had a tremendous impression on a plethora of organizations and businesses in the Mile High City, impacting a broad audience in the Denver Metro area and the University of Denver campus. In addition to her business ventures, she touched the lives of children, students, and beyond with an unparalleled level of integrity, commitment and passion.  
 
"Joy Burns inspired everyone who knew her," Vice Chancellor for Athletics, Recreation and Ritchie Center Operations Karlton Creech said. "Her support of Denver Athletics and Recreation was unmatched as she led the effort to move our sport programs to full Division I during her time as a Trustee at the University. Joy believed in the character-building benefits of sports and put her full effort into transforming Denver Athletics into the nation's best NCAA Division I-AAA program. I am forever grateful that I had the incredible opportunity to know Joy. We should all aspire to live our life to Joy's unreachable standard. The heartache we all feel right now in losing Joy will eventually subside, but Joy's powerful impact on our lives will never be forgotten."
 
An Honorary Life Trustee at the University of Denver and a full member of the Board of Trustees from 1981-2017, Burns and her late husband Franklin L. Burns, a DU alum, are the namesakes and primary benefactors of several campus facilities and programs including Joy Burns Arena, inside the Daniel L. Ritchie Center. The arena is just one of the many ways Joy helped open DU's doors to the metro area.
 
"Sports give you the opportunity to find out how far you can push yourself – it teaches you about teamwork. You can't learn that sort of thing about yourself in a classroom, you have to be out there competing…that's what life is all about" Burns said in a Denver Business Journal interview in 2018.
 
The Burns name is also associated with the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management (Joy Burns Center), the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management and the Newman Center (Joy Burns Plaza), honoring four decades of service and commitment to the University of Denver. These contributions have had an impact on so many in the University of Denver community, but Joy's leadership went beyond the brick and mortar.
 
"Joy Burns is the perfect example of a true servant leader," Former Vice Chancellor for Athletics, Recreation and Ritchie Center Operations Peg Bradley-Doppes said. "She dedicated her life, her time and energy and her treasures to making our world a better place. Her love for the University of Denver combined with her commitment to excellence, equity and inclusion vastly created the blueprint for our success today. She loved our DU students and they loved her back. Joy's legacy lives on through us all; she was an inspiration."
 
Burns became the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, holding the post from 1990 to 2005 and then again from 2007 to 2009. Working with then-chancellor Daniel L. Ritchie, Burns led an effort to help bring DU out of a difficult financial period by raising millions of dollars to enhance the aged campus and attract the best and brightest students and athletes from across the country.
 
In 1976, Burns founded the University of Denver Pioneer Sportswomen, advocating for females through the Title IX movement to provide leadership and funding for parity in women's sports and helping grow the athletic department into the well-balanced I-AAA Directors' Cup Champion it is today.
 
In the 1970s, Burns chaired a campaign to raise $50,000 to create the first weight room and training center in the DU Fieldhouse for use by both Denver's male and female student-athletes. Burns was the honorary chair of the AIAW Division II National Women's Gymnastics Championship, hosted by DU in 1982. Her support was an inspiration to the program, which captured its first of two consecutive national championships in the sport that season. Burns' love and passion for the gymnastics program continued as she annually sponsored the most successful home gymnastics competition each season, the Burnsley Invitational. In 2014, Burns made the lead gift for the construction of the Diane Wendt Sports Fields, which serves as home for Denver's intramural and club programs and as a practice facility for some of Denver's Division I sports programs.
 
"Joy was an inspiration, role model and mentor to me," Denver gymnastics coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. "Her passion, integrity and commitment to excellence is why I accepted the job at DU years ago. Joy supported all women's sports and student-athletes at DU, but I was so blessed and honored by her love, engagement and generosity to Denver Gymnastics…in my heart DU Gymnastics became Joy's team. Joy's impact on our current student athletes and to our alumni near and far are infinite. There is no one we want to please more. We will be heartbroken to compete without her in the stands. However, her spirit will live on in our culture and character of our program daily. Joy will always hold a special place in my heart and within our program. Joy has left a legacy for us to continue to build upon and we are forever grateful."
 
Burns' impact on sports extended beyond the DU campus. She served as president of the Sportswomen of Colorado Foundation, as the only female member of the Metropolitan Football Stadium Board, and was a part owner of the first women's professional basketball franchise in Colorado, the Xplosion.
 
Outside of the sports realm, Burns was one of the original founders of the Women's Bank in 1976 (which later became the Colorado Business Bank in 1993). In the 1980s, she renovated the former Hampshire House into the Burnsley Hotel, where she served as president from its opening in 1985 through 1993. Later in the 80s, Burns was a founding member of the Women's Foundation of Colorado. She became the first woman to chair the Denver Metro Convention and Business Bureau (later renamed Visit Denver), playing an instrumental role in the development of the Colorado Convention Center. Following his passing in 1997, Burns became the president of her husband's company, D.C. Burns Realty & Trust.

"There are those that strive for excellence and there are those that define excellence," former DU Director of Athletics Ron Grahame said. "Excellence defined Joy Burns. Whether in the stands or boardroom, Joy Burns was the epitome of what Denver Athletics and Recreation stood for — she was a true Pioneer."
 
Mrs. Burns lived life serving others with a kind and always humble heart. She had and will always have a profound impact on our Denver Athletics and Recreation Family. We are forever grateful for her courageous, infectious and contagious DU Spirit. Joy will be greatly missed, but always cherished, as our true champion of character and leadership.