Frank Burgess

Burgess was born in Eudora, Arkansas.[1] A man with a good sense of humor, he once described his hometown as being so small that "the only fast food we had in that town was if you hit a deer going 70 (miles per hour)."[2] He attended Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College (Arkansas AM&N), a small school now known as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, for one year while also playing on the basketball team.[3] He then joined the Air Force and spent a four-year tour of duty in Europe.[3] Burgess still played basketball even in Germany and was so good that he was picked to be one of the 10 best Air Force players in the world.[3] While stationed at Hahn Air Force Base he averaged 33.4 points per game.[3] It was during this time that Burgess met Mel Porter, a fellow American Air Force officer and Gonzaga University alumnus.[3] Porter recognized Burgess' talent and played middle man to Burgess and the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coach, Hank Anderson.[3] Although Burgess had also started to receive serious interest from Kansas and USC, he ultimately chose to attend Gonzaga because he felt that that school would get him the most prepared for life after basketball.[2][3] "You have to remember, I had gotten out of the service, and I was married with twin girls. I was about getting an education and taking care of my family," he said to a newspaper reporter later in his life.[2]

Burgess matriculated at Gonzaga University in the fall of 1958 after his stint in the Air Force had ended.[1] He spent three years at Gonzaga, from 1958–59 to 1960–61. He led the Bulldogs in scoring all three seasons, scored 40 or more points in a game seven times with a career-high 52 points against UC Davis, led the NCAA in scoring in 1960–61 with a 32.4 points per game average, and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,196 points.[1] He received All-American honors in both his junior and senior seasons, while in his senior year he was a consensus Second Team All-American.[1] Although his Gonzaga career ended in 1961, Burgess is etched in the records book at the school, including:[3][4]

All-time ranks accurate through the 2022–23 season.

Frank Burgess
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
In office March 9, 2005 – March 26, 2010
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
In office March 28, 1994 – March 9, 2005
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Jack Edward Tanner
Succeeded by	Benjamin Settle
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
In office 1981–1993
Personal details
Education	Gonzaga University (BA, JD)

Burgess graduated with a degree in education in the spring of 1961 and was then drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.[2] He instead chose to play in the fledgling American Basketball League with the Hawaii Chiefs, but after two years the league folded. He decided to go back to school and enrolled at the Gonzaga University School of Law, where he graduated near the top of his class despite working the midnight shift for Washington Water Power.[1][2]

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

• Franklin D. Burgess at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.