Obituary of Linda Hunt Bunnell

Linda Hunt Bunnell, academic leader, caring family member, steadfast friend, and intrepid world traveler departed on her final voyage from Waco, Texas, on March 27, 2024.

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, she 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 University 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 life long friends and committed mentor to colleagues and students. Her beloved family included generations of precocious Burmese cats, most recently, Pippa and Kipling. Linda will be remembered for her intellectual curiosity, her love of her native Texas, and her religious faith, deepened and practiced in the Episcopal Church.

Memorial Service: 2 p.m. Friday, April 19, 2024 at Thompson’s Harveson & Cole Funeral Home, 4350 River Oaks Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas. Interment will follow at Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth. 

Memorials: Gifts in her memory can be directed to The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76706 where she spent her final years researching the role of women in the early history of Baylor University.