Bean, Melissa L. (Melissa Luburich), 1962-

Melissa Luburich Bean (born January 22, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2011.

Born Melissa Luburich in Chicago, she graduated from Maine East High School just northwest of Chicago in 1980 and earned an associate’s degree at Oakton Community College two years later. To pay her way through school, she worked part-time at a technological company that quickly promoted her; roughly a decade later, she started her own consulting company. She married Alan Bean in 1985. Bean continued to take university classes throughout her career and completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at Roosevelt University in 2002, during her first House campaign.

After campaigning for Democrat Lance Pressl in Pressl's unsuccessful 2000 bid to oust Republican incumbent Phil Crane, Bean announced her own candidacy against Crane in 2002, arguing he had become out of touch with the district over his long tenure. Campaigning on the same message in 2004, Bean won the election to the House and unseated Crane with almost 52 percent of the vote, thanks in part to the ballot presence of U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama who carried the district. Bean joined the Blue Dog Coalition, advocating for a balanced budget and spending policies to target federal needs. Her legislative agenda focused on her professional interests in technology, including bills that emphasized personal data protection. In her bid for a fourth term, Bean lost by less than 300 votes to Republican Joe Walsh.

After leaving Congress, Bean returned to private corporate business in Chicago. In 2011, Bean became President and CEO of the Executives Club of Chicago. After serving as chair of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase, she became CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors, part of Mesirow Financial, in 2019.