Linda Hunt Bunnell

Linda Hunt Bunnell, B.A. ’64, academic leader, caring family member, steadfast friend and intrepid world traveler, departed on her final voyage from Waco on March 27.

Born in Dallas in 1942 to Byron and Bobbye Hunt Bunnell, she grew up in Fort Worth. She earned her B.A. from Baylor University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder in English literature. An inspired teacher, she served on the faculty at the University of California Riverside and then held administrative positions in the California State University System and the University of Minnesota System. Recognized for her strategic grasp of higher education trends, Bunnell served as chancellor of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, senior vice president for higher education for the College Board and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. For her nationally recognized leadership in higher education, Baylor awarded her the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Survived by her devoted cousins, Tom Hunt, Carolyn Hunt-Munro and Jim Bunnell, she was a sister of the heart to lifelong friends and a committed mentor to colleagues and students. Her beloved family included generations of precocious Burmese cats, most recently, Pippa and Kipling. Bunnell will be remembered for her intellectual curiosity, her love of her native Texas and her religious faith, deepened and practiced in the Episcopal Church.

Gifts in her memory can be directed to The Texas Collection of Baylor University, where she spent her final years researching the role of women in the early history of Baylor University.