Biography of Senator Roland W. Burris

Roland W. Burris is proud to represent the people of Illinois in the United States Senate, where he serves on the Armed Services Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Prior to his appointment as the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Burris worked for more than 30 years in both the public and private sector.

He served as the National Bank Examiner for the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department (1963-1964) and Vice President of the Continental Illinois National Bank, which at the time was the largest bank in Illinois (1964-1973). Following his tenure at the bank, Mr. Burris returned to government as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet, where he became the administrative officer in charge of Central Management Services for the State of Illinois (1973-1977).

In 1978, Mr. Burris was elected Comptroller of Illinois, making him the first African American ever to hold statewide office in Illinois. He served three terms as Comptroller (1979-1991) before being elected as the state’s first African American Attorney General (1991-1995). In addition, from 1991 to 1994, he served as a Trustee to the Financial Accounting Foundation Board.

Before coming to the Senate, Mr. Burris was Chairman/CEO of Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC, a strategic consulting service. Prior to that post, Senator Burris served as Managing Partner of the largest minority-owned law firm in Chicago, and was subsequently of council to various other law firms as he continued his private practice.  

Mr. Burris served for three years as a Trustee on the Executive Board of the Government Finance Office Association of the United States and Canada. In addition, he has served as President of the National Association of Comptrollers and President of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers.  He also led the successful effort to create a Comptroller for the U.S. Government.

Senator Burris was born and raised in Centralia, Illinois. He attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL , from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He pursued his Masters Degree in International Law as an exchange student in Hamburg, Germany, and went on to earn his Juris Doctor (JD) from Howard University Law School, in Washington, DC. He is married to Dr. Berlean M. Burris, and is the father of two adult children, Roland Burris II, JD, and Rolanda Burris, Ph.D.