Prior to his service in Congress, Burns was Professor of Management in the College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia. During his tenure at Georgia Southern, Burns was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Sweden and visiting professor of information management at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Burns began his career in business and industry working for Fortune 500 companies and national non-profits in Atlanta, Miami and New York. He spent over a decade building and managing organizations to meet the needs of customers and constituents.

Burns holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master's of Business Information Systems from Georgia State University and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Georgia State University. He and his wife Lora have been married for over 40 years. They have two sons and three grandchildren. In his spare time Dr. Burns enjoys reading, travel, golf and bass fishing. The Burns' are active members of Jackson Baptist Church in Sylvania.