| Summary: | Advertising chief executive Tom Burrell was born on March 18, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up on Chicago's South Side. Burrell began his career in advertising while still attending Roosevelt University, where he graduated with his B.A. degree in English. He was hired as a copywriter with the Chicago division of Wade Advertising, before moving to Foote Cone & Belding to work as a copy supervisor, where he spent one year in the firm's London offices. Burrell founded Burrell Communications Group in 1971, which was the nation's largest African American-owned marketing firm, with clients including McDonalds and Coca-Cola. In 1986, he was the recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Advertising, and in 1990, he received the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. He served as chairman of the Chicago Council of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
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