BURRIS, Roland, a Senator from Illinois; born in Centralia, Ill., August 3, 1937; B.A., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill., 1959; J.D., Howard University, 1963; national bank examiner; bank executive; director, Illinois State Department of General Services 1973-1976; Illinois State comptroller 1978-1990, the first African American elected to statewide office in Illinois; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States senator in1984; Illinois State attorney general 1991-1995; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1994, 1998, and 2002; practiced law in Chicago, Ill.; appointed December 31, 2008, to the United States Senate for the term ending January 3, 2011, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Barack Obama, but credentials were not in order until January 12, 2009; took the oath of office on January 15, 2009.

Source:bioguide.congress.gov