Burgess, a native of Lawton, was the chairman emeritus of Techrizon, chairman of the board of Vortex, and the senior partner of Burgess & Hightower Law Firm. As chairman, Burgess and his team developed Techrizon into the largest Oklahoma owned software engineering company. Techrizon develops smart weapons systems for today’s technologically advanced warfare. Burgess is the son of Bill W. Burgess, Sr. and Betty Burgess. He graduated from Cameron University and from the University of Oklahoma School of Law.

Burgess was appointed to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education in 1993 and was reappointed for a second term in 2002. He was one of the youngest state regents to be appointed in the state's history. He served as chairman of the Citizens' Commission on the Future of Oklahoma Higher Education. He was chosen as one of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce’s Oklahoma Stars for the “I Believe in Oklahoma” campaign. He was awarded the Corporate Entrepreneur of the Year by the prestigious United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Burgess also served as chairman of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, chairman of Leadership Oklahoma, ambassador for the United States Army Reserve, and president of the Oklahoma Boy Scouts of America and is an Eagle Scout. The son of a career army sergeant, he created the Soldiers’ Children Scholarship Foundation to provide scholarships for the children of soldiers killed or seriously wounded. Burgess also created numerous university endowments.