Burnett recieves Light on the Hill award

As a student at Tufts, Rob Burnett (LA '84) was admittedly tardy to almost every lecture. As an alumnus, Burnett still can't make it to campus on time, and the presentation of last year's Light on the Hill award to him had to be postponed for a semester because he could not travel to campus. But last Friday, Burnett was right on time for his speech in Cabot Auditorium when he finally accepted the award.

Burnett, the producer of The Late Show with David Letterman and the creator of the show Ed, traveled from his home in New Jersey with his wife Eunice (LA '85) and their three children.

During his acceptance speech, which was more like a stand-up comedy act, Burnett encouraged students to work hard for their futures by explaining his experience in the television industry. Burnett said that hated "old people" trying to give him advice while he was in college, so he would try to refrain from doing the same.

Two videos highlighting the alumnus' career were played prior to Burnett's speech. The first video showed Ed winning favorite new comedy at the 2001 People's Choice Awards and Burnett accepting one of five Emmys he has won for his work on The Late Show. The other video consisted of clips from Ed and The Late Show, many of which contained references to Tufts.

"I have dreamt about winning Light on the Hill since I was six years old," Burnett joked.

Burnett came to Tufts with dreams of becoming a writer. Although he majored in English, he said that he was frequently discouraged from writing during his Tufts career. For example, in the creative writing class he took during his freshman year, the professor had the class analyze everything that was wrong with his first story.

Nonetheless, he told students interested in writing to "write all the time."

"There is no such thing as talent," Burnett said. "You spend a lot of time and energy assessing if you've got it or not." He told students not to "think that way," and that it is simply necessary to work hard. "It's all luck," he added.

Burnett stressed the importance of working hard in everything one does. No matter what menial job a student may have, he said, it is necessary to do everything perfectly. "Every time you have to make a copy, make sure it's the best copy you've ever made."

After graduating from Tufts, Burnett drove to California instead of attending law school as he had previously planned. When he was fired from his busboy job and was unable to break into writing, he returned to the east coast. After submitting a writing sample to The Late Show, Burnett received an internship at the show.

"It was absolute dumb luck," he said.

A year later, in 1985, Burnett became a writer for the show. By 1992, Burnett was head writer and in 1996 he became the executive producer. "The irony is that as you advance as a writer, you become a producer," he said.

Burnett looked back on his years at Tufts and recalled his best memory _ the first time he did stand up, during his senior year. "It was a crystallizing moment of my four years here," he said, although he has no desire to perform in front of the camera.

His wife Eunice distinguished herself more academically at Tufts than he did, Burnett said. She triple majored and received a Dae scholarship, the German equivalent of a Fulbright.

Burnett, on the other hand, distinguished himself by eating five cheeseburgers and fries in one sitting at Hodgdon, he said.

The former Jumbo expounded upon the advantages of the Tufts experience. "The greatest luxury of this place is that you can't screw up, within reason." He compared it to being on an escalator _ no matter which way you go, you're continually improving.

Part of students' success is simply being on campus and meeting the "certain kind of well-rounded" people that Tufts attracts, Burnett said.

Burnett would eventually like to venture into film, but likes television because "writers are the bosses on TV." He and a friend wrote a screenplay after college, and were hired by Steven Spielberg's company, Amblin Entertainment, to write three more. Although none of the screenplays were produced, Burnett would like to rejoin the medium. "Film is much more linear; it's similar to making a pilot."

"Ed is punishing work at 22 episodes a year," he said, adding that it is like having all his favorite foods lined up and being forced to eat all of them for 18 hours at a time. At such a fast pace, each episode cannot be totally inspired from beginning to end. Instead, Burnett tries "to find certain moments _ those episodes are very special."

Students have presented the Light on the Hill award to distinguished Tufts alumni since 1995. Previous winners have included NBC News President Neil Shapiro, actor Hank Azaria (LA '85), New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. (LA '74), former Secretary of Energy and New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Bill Richardson (LA '70, F '71), and astronaut Rick Hauck (LA '62).