Biography
Eva Evelyn Burrows was born on 15 September 1929 in Newcastle. Her parents, Robert Burrows and Ella, were both Salvation Army Officers. The couple had nine children: Dorothy, Joyce, Beverly, Walter, Robert, Bramwell, Elizabeth, Eva and Margaret. With her parents' itinerant life-style Burrows primary schooling was interrupted, she completed her secondary education at Brisbane State High School, where she was selected as a prefect and Head Girl. From the age of seventeen, Burrows attended University of Queensland and received her Bachelor of Arts in May 1950 with majors in English and History. In 1951 Burrows became an Officer of The Salvation Army from the Fortitude Valley corps in Queensland. She served at the Howard Institute in Zimbabwe from 1952 to 1967, was Principal of the Usher Institute from 1967 to 1970, and served at the International College for Officers, at The Cedars, Sydenham Hill London, from 1970 to 1975, first as Assistant Principal, then as Principal.
She became the leader of the Salvation Army's Social Services for Women in Great Britain in 1975, and leader of the Salvation Army's work in Sri Lanka in 1977. In 1980 she became leader of the Salvation Army's work in Scotland, followed in 1982 as leader of the Salvation Army's work in the Australian Southern Territory. In 1986 she was elected General of the Salvation Army by the slimmest margin in the history of the High Council (22 to 24 on the fourth ballot, a margin of one person's vote).
On Australia Day (26 January) 1986 Burrows was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) with the citation "In recognition of service to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the community and to social justice as the world leader of the Salvation Army". On the same date in 1994 it was upgraded to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) with a similar citation. In 1988 she became an Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and was awarded an Honorary LLD from Asbury University in the USA in 1988. In December 1993, she received an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from her alma mater, the University of Queensland. On 1 January 2001 Burrows received a Centenary Medal "or service to the Australian community".
Burrows continues active salvation warfare, having just completed a ten-year post on the Board of the International Bible Society (in 2005), and being the international Champion of the Be A Hero campaign, as well as sitting on the Board of Reference of The Salvation Army War College. She is a formidable leader and leaves an indelible mark on The Salvation Army.
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