Jamie Burns is a Managing Director in McAllister & Quinn’s Research Universities Practice and leads the development and delivery of strategic intelligence (SI) across the practice. She is responsible for shaping SI methodologies, guiding analytics approaches, and ensuring the firm’s university clients receive tailored intelligence that supports institutional strategy, competitiveness, and research growth. Jamie’s work focuses on translating complex data into actionable insights for university leaders, with a particular focus on benchmarking institutions, tracking federal sponsors and programs, and advancing how SI is integrated into broader research development efforts.
Prior to joining McAllister & Quinn, Jamie worked as a Senior Strategic Intelligence Analyst at Arizona State University (ASU). In this role, she increased the diversity and sophistication of SI work at ASU. Jamie is skilled at assessing institutional performance and capacity, defining and analyzing the competitive landscape in key areas of national interest, and growing research dollars by increasing the competitiveness of proposals to federal sponsors.
Jamie earned an M.P.A from Columbia University and a B.A. from the University of Arizona. Jamie is certified by the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) Organization as a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP). She is a member of the National Organization for Research Development Professionals (NORDP) and previously served on NORDP’s Program for External Evaluation of RD (PEERD).
Affiliations and Awards
- Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) – Certified Analytics Professional
- National Organization of Research Development Professionals, Program for External Evaluation of RD (PEERD) – Former Consultant
- NSF-funded Center for Research, Excellence, and Diversity in Team Science (CREDITS) – Former Community of Practice Member
- Former Founding-Member of the Competitive Intelligence Working Group
Publications and Events
- International Market & Competitive Intelligence Magazine (2024)
- Publication: “Early Warning for Grant Opportunities”
- National Organization of Research Development Professionals Conference (2024)
- Presentation: “Federal Budget Intelligence for the RD Professional”
- National Organization of Research Development Professionals Conference (2023)
- Presentation: “Why Universities Need Strategic Intelligence”
- Presentation: “Does OT mean other transactions or overtime or both?”
- Post-Conference Panel: “Federal Engagement Strategic for Your Research Enterprise”
- VCEUROPEX Conference (2023)
- Presentation: “Early Warning for Grant Opportunities”
- International Market & Competitive Intelligence Magazine (2021)
- Publication: “A Data-Informed Approach to Targeted Engagement with Universities”
- National Organization of Research Development Professionals Conference (2021)
- Presentation: “Creating Cohorts to Advance University Research Initiatives”
- Presentation “Scenario Planning: Building Resilience in Uncertain Times”
- Panel: “How Can the Growth of Open Science Contribute to Your Research Development Efforts?”
- International Competitive & Market Intelligence Conference (2021)
- Presentation: “A Data-Informed Approach to Targeted Engagement with Universities”
- National Organization of Research Development Professionals Conference (2019)
- Presentation: “They’re Doing What? Competitive Intelligence in Higher Education”