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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.

The following about the fellowship honoree is excerpted from an article, Imagining – and Discovering – the Possibilities, in the University Gazette on February 27, 2019:

Sippio Burton Jr. owned and operated a barbershop in Fayetteville, and many of his clients were soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg. At age 10, Lewis Burton began working in his father’s shop and listened in on the conversations of servicemen from faraway places.

The allure of exploration took hold. “I realized that if I wanted to do something in life, I needed to go someplace that was different, to experience different things. I was ready to strike out on life’s journey, to find new possibilities,” Burton said.

His father wanted him to attend Hampton University, a historically black college, but Burton wanted to attend Carolina. His mother, Sadie Burton, concurred and they prevailed. When he left home for Carolina, his father gave him a copy of Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” recognizing how important nurturing relationships would be to him at college.

Only seven black undergraduates had preceded him at Carolina. Burton was one of five African-Americans in his freshman class, arriving on campus in 1961, the same year David Dansby became the first African-American to receive an undergraduate degree from Carolina.

Burton said he gave these numbers little thought at the time. He felt he could best effect social change by developing strong relationships with his classmates. He organized intramural athletic activities, an appointed position, and participated in Student Government, an elected position.

Initially Burton had no notion of what he wanted to major in. “But soon after I got there, I overheard this conversation about how ‘accounting is really hard; it’s tough,’” he said. “And I said to myself, ‘OK, that’s what’s meant to be.’ And that’s how I made the decision.”

Burton was a trailblazer, becoming the first African-American student to graduate from what is now Kenan-Flagler Business School. By taking classes year-round, he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a major in accounting, a semester ahead of schedule.

One of Burton’s close friends and classmates was Larry Poe, now a retired two-star U.S. Navy admiral. “I was most impressed with his sense of order and discipline and how he managed his time,” Poe said of Burton. “He had the ability to focus and that attentiveness isn’t something that you can learn. His leadership was self-evident back then and proven in his career.”

Burton also became good friends with a member of his study group, Coleman Ross, who went on to provide accounting services for financial services clients at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 34 years and served as the national leader of PwC’s insurance practice.

In 2018, Ross established the Lewis M. Burton Master of Accounting Fellowship to honor his classmate and his legacy of courage, leadership and sacrifice.

“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,” Ross said when he established the fellowship. “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.”

At Carolina, Burton benefitted from guidance provided by legendary accounting professors Isaac Reynolds and Harold Langenderfer, who helped him land a job right out of college, with Arthur Andersen in Chicago, where he made his career.

Burton rose the position of senior audit manager in Andersen’s 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.

After leaving Arthur Andersen in 1978, Burton worked for start-up companies throughout the Midwest. He specialized in turn-around and workout situations for both individuals and small businesses. These businesses included 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 adviser role, he earned an MBA degree with a concentration in marketing from Roosevelt University’s Walter Heller School of Business in 1998.

Clients throughout his career attest to his commitment to developing personal relationships. His approach has always been to help people “start and save their dreams,” he said.

He returned to North Carolina in 2013 and lives in Durham. Twice widowed, he’s the father of three adult children. His daughter, Michelle L. Burton, is a 1992 Carolina graduate.

In 2017, Burton received the Kenan-Flagler Alumni Merit Award. “The award I’m receiving tonight is not about me,” Burton said in accepting the honor. It was, rather, about all those who had assisted in “providing me the opportunity to attend this great university.”

He thanked his parents for opening the door and showing the way. When his father died, in December 1989, the N.C. General Assembly passed a resolution expressing its “deep appreciation for the life of Sippio Burton Jr.,” recognizing “his contributions and accomplishments in the area of civil rights.”

He also thanked his Carolina professors and classmates. “It’s those relationships that are most important,” Burton said. “Relationships are key. That’s why Carolina is so special.”

Lewis Burton Fellowship recipients by academic year –
2020-21: Pablo Hernandez, III.
2021-22: Thais Weiss

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