Bridget Burns is Chief of Staff for the Oregon University System. She works directly with the Chancellor as a key policy advisor and the official representative of the Chancellor to internal and external stakeholders of the Oregon University System. She provides leadership for programs, policy initiatives, and mandates of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, and also leads both federal and state government relations on behalf of the university system and the Chancellor. Bridget previously served as Senior Policy Advisor in addition to Policy and Research Associate in the department of communication and public affairs.

In 2010, Burns was selected as one of fifteen National Associates for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, and appointed to the Oregon State Commission on Children and Families.  She is an advisor to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), an educational research organization funded by the Pew Charitable Trust. She was previously a member of the State Board of Higher Education, and Chair of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission. Burns has also served as a member of the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature.

As a student at Oregon State University, Burns was elected national chair of the State Student Association Alliance, and President of the Associated Students of Oregon State University. While at OSU she successfully advocated on behalf of low-income students, achieving a $2.2 million increase in institutional financial aid, in addition to establishing a need-based aid program at Oregon State and raising $300,000 for low-income students. Prior to her time at OSU, Burns attended North Idaho College and served its student body as vice president.

She was a recipient of the Oregon Student Association Student of the Year award, Jo Anne Trowe Woman of Distinction Award, and the Leadership in Social Change Award at OSU. Burns was also an accomplished and successful debater for OSU, garnering a spot on the prestigious two person American National Debate team in 2005, after winning All-American status in 2004.Burns has her Masters degree in Public Policy from Oregon State University. Her thesis was titled "The Perception Gap: The Gulf Between Public Opinion and Public Higher Education in Oregon."