CFA Service:
1981–1985
Harold Burson was a founding partner of the world’s largest public relations agency, Burson-Marsteller. Early in his career Burson worked as a reporter, and he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi in 1940. From 1941 to 1943, he worked for an engineering and building company in New York City, and then served in the army in World War II as a combat engineer and correspondent. Following the war he started his own public relations firm in New York City. In 1953 he partnered with advertising executive William Marsteller to create Burson-Marsteller. Burson was long active in professional, civic, and cultural organizations, and received numerous awards and honors for his public service.