Rufus Columbus Burleson

Rufus Columbus Burleson (August 7, 1823 – May 14, 1901) was the president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, from 1851 to 1861 and again from 1886 to 1897.

Biography Burleson was born near Decatur in northern Alabama. In 1840, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to study law at the University of Nashville but dropped out and started preaching at the First Baptist Church of Nashville. In 2020, Baylor founded the Commission on Historic Campus representations. The Commission's first report uncovered the prejudiced past of Rufus Burleson and included the recommendation to move his statue and rename Burleson Quadrangle to The Quadrangle. Burleson's statue was moved from its place of prominence in the summer of 2022.

Burleson was a second cousin of Edward Burleson, third vice president of the Republic of Texas.