Bursley, Gilbert E.

Republican state legislator from Ann Arbor, Michigan, member of the Michigan house of representatives, 1960-1964, and the Michigan senate, 1964-1978.

Gilbert E. Bursley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 28, 1913. He was educated at the University of Michigan (A.B., 1934) and the Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1936). Prior to his election to the Michigan State House of Representatives in 1960, Bursley had a varied career in the military as military attaché in Turkey after World War II, as United Nations peacekeeping observer in the Middle East in the 1950s, and as United States Information Agency head in portions of Africa.

Returning to Michigan, he served as chairman of the Ann Arbor Republican Party, 1958-1959, then in 1960, he won election to the Michigan House, serving two terms, then in 1964, he was elected to the Michigan Senate, where he served until 1978. After leaving office, he became president of Cleary College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He died in September 1998.