Ebby Halliday Companies President & CEO Mary Frances Burleson to Receive National Association of REALTORS® Distinguished Service Award

DALLAS, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mary Frances Burleson, president and CEO of The Ebby Halliday Companies, will receive the National Association of REALTORS® 2013 Distinguished Service Award at the association's annual meeting in San Francisco in November. The announcement was made at the Midyear National Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors meeting held recently in Washington, D.C.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130617/DA31971)  

Ms. Burleson is the third member of The Ebby Halliday Companies to receive the coveted National Association of REALTORS® Distinguished Service Award. Past winners are Founder and Chairman of the Board Ebby Halliday, the first woman to receive the award, and the late Posie Willess, who like Ebby was a trailblazer for women in the residential real estate industry. Of the thousands of residential real estate companies in the United States, The Ebby Halliday Companies is the only one to have been honored with three NAR Distinguished Service Awards.

The award recognizes members of the National Association of REALTORS® who have shown exceptional meritorious service for at least 25 years. Out of approximately 1 million REALTORS^®, no more than two are recognized with the award each year.

NAR established the Distinguished Service Award in 1979 to honor REALTORS^® who have made outstanding contributions to the real estate industry and are recognized as leaders in their local communities. The award is considered the highest honor an NAR member may receive; recipients must be active at the local, state and national association levels.

"I am honored to be recognized with the Distinguished Service Award," says Ms. Burleson. "I have been fortunate to serve a company founded by the legendary Ebby Halliday, whose impact on the residential real estate industry is unmatched. Our Associates, who seek every day to follow Ebby's example of service, are the basis of our company's success."

Ms. Burleson started with Ebby Halliday, REALTORS® in 1958 as a temporary receptionist.

"My husband said that I had looked over the garden wall when I started working for Ebby Halliday and that I was never the same again," says Ms. Burleson. "Ebby has mentored and helped many, many people to find their career path  . . .  and I was one of the fortunate ones."

Today, Ms. Burleson is president and CEO of the Ebby Halliday Companies, which includes 30 offices, two real estate brands, three service companies, and approximately 1,500 Associates covering more than 12,000 square miles of North Texas. The Dallas-based firm is the largest independently owned residential real estate company in Texas and ranks 12th in the nation. The 68-year-old company participated in approximately 16,000 property transactions in 2012 with a sales volume of $4.8 billion.

"Ebby Halliday, REALTORS® was founded on three principles of service: service to the client, service to the industry and service to the community," Ms. Burleson says. "I am extremely proud to be a part of an organization that places service to others at the forefront of everything we do."

The National Association of REALTORS^®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. For more information, visit realtor.org.

For more information on Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®, visit the website voted one of the industry's best by the Web Marketing Association, ebby.com.

SOURCE Ebby Halliday, REALTORS