Burton Wright Marvin received a Masters degree in journalism in 1938 from the Columbia School of Journalism. He went on to teach classes at Columbia, as well as at the Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Illinois, and wrote for the Chicago Daily News.

Marvin served as the Dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas between 1948 and 1965. He was also the first director of the Wiliam Allen White Foundation, established in 1945. Marvin took part in international educational programs, including a trip to several African nations with a few other journalists in the summer of 1963.

Burton Marvin served as associate general secretary for communications with the National Council of Churches after leaving KU. In 1968 he joined the faculty at Syracuse University's School of Journalism and directed the religious journalism and mental health information programs there. He was assistant dean to the School at his death in 1979.

Marvin married Margaret Medlar Marvin (1914-2010) in 1938 in Lincoln, Nebraska. They had four children: Mary Louise (preceded both parents in death), Anne, Charles, and Robert.