Coleman D. Ross
Lewis M. Burton
Master of Accounting
Endowed Fellowship
The Lewis M. Burton Master of Accounting Endowed Fellowship was established in 2018 by Coleman Ross in honor of his classmate who in 1965 was the first African-American graduate of UNC’s Business School. It provides an annual fellowship to a student attending the Master of Accounting Program at Kenan-Flagler Business School. Coleman provided the following about his classmate at the time he established the fellowship.
When Lewis Mallett Burton matriculated to UNC in September 1961, he and four other first-year African-American classmates were following close behind the footsteps of David Dansby, the first African-American to receive an undergraduate degree from UNC, just three months prior. In fact, only Dansby and six other African-American students preceded Lewis and his classmates as undergraduates at UNC. Four years later, in June 1965, Lewis joined Dansby and two of the other African-American predecessors and received his UNC undergraduate degree. In doing so, he became the first African-American graduate of UNC’s Business School.
Prior to UNC, Lewis had attended Ezekiel E. Smith High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. At UNC, in pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with a concentration in accounting, Lewis attended classes during all semesters and summer sessions to complete the four and one-half year program in four years. He also benefitted from guidance provided by two esteemed accounting professors, Dr. Isaac Reynolds and Dr. Harold Langenderfer.
Since graduation from UNC, Lewis has spent more than 40 years providing business advisory services to clients, helping them start and save their dreams. His accounting career began at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Chicago, where he worked from 1965 to 1978, arising to the position of Senior Audit Manager in the Manufacturing Division. He was responsible for assurance reviews and audits of private and publicly-traded companies to include audits of foreign divisions and subsidiaries. Lewis handled purchase investigations and forensic audits of nonprofit agencies, governmental and municipal agencies, and governmental contractors.
Lewis’s tenure at Arthur Andersen was interrupted in 1966 when he was drafted by the U.S. Army. In 1967, Burton was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery. He attended Officer Candidate School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After graduating with distinction, he was stationed at First Army headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, until he was discharged. During his military service, Lewis attended George Washington University. Back at Arthur Andersen, he attended DePaul University in Chicago and sat for and passed the CPA examination in 1970 and received his CPA certificate from the State of Illinois in 1971.
After leaving Arthur Andersen, Lewis worked for start-up companies in Chicago and throughout the Midwest, specializing in turn-around and workout situations for both individuals and small businesses. These businesses included one-bank holding companies, human capital staffing firms, real estate syndication firms, a television syndication firm, healthcare manufacturing and distribution companies, and an income tax advisory services and tax resolution firm. To enhance his business advisor role, Lewis earned an MBA degree with a concentration in marketing from Roosevelt University’s Walter Heller School of Business in 1998.
Lewis’s path to sage business advisor began as a UNC business student. A 1965 graduate, his college years were turbulent in the areas of social justice and civil rights. Lewis felt he could best affect social change by developing strong relationships with his fellow classmates at UNC. He was successful in these endeavors as he organized intramural athletic activities, an appointed position, and participated in Student Government, an elected position, while residing in Craige dormitory. Lewis developed friendships and relationships that have lasted a lifetime.
Lewis Burton was a true pioneer in UNC Kenan-Flagler’s history as the school’s first African-American student. The Lewis M. Burton Master of Accounting Fellowship is a permanent reminder of Lewis’s status as an historic figure in the early 1960s and his legacy of courage, leadership, and sacrifice. Isaac Newton, a key figure in the 18th century scientific revolution, said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Students of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Master of Accounting program who receive this fellowship will have the benefit of standing on Lewis Burton’s shoulders as they advance their careers in accounting.
Lewis M. Burton fellowship recipients follow: