Tom Burns was appointed Research Lecturer in the Social Environment Research Centre at Edinburgh University in 1949 and became the first head of the new Sociology Department in 1964. He remained at the university until his retirement in 1981.
His papers include fieldwork relating to his research into the organisation of industries. He worked with electronic and manufacturing firms, British Petroleum, the NHS and the BBC. Also included are: drafts of his many articles, essays, and lectures; sociology teaching material; correspondence with publishers.
You can read about his essays and articles on our blog post “From Barbed Wire to the BBC”.
