Oil on canvas portrait of Sharon "Nyota" Tucker, J.D. class of 1974 of the University of Georgia School of Law.
Artist: Sonja Walker
Current location: Hirsch Hall, 2nd floor, Admissions Suite
Tucker was the first female African-American graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law. In her long career Tucker served in roles at the Albany office of the Georgia Legal Services Program, the Earl Warren Fellowship Program in the San Francisco office, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and at the Albany, Georgia Law Firm of Mary Young & Associates. She went on to later become a faculty member and pre-law advisor at Albany State University, and eventually served a dual role as University Counsel and Chief of Staff for eight years. Additionally she took active positions in community service organizations including the Board of Trustees for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, the Board of Directors for Liberty House, a member of the Advisory Committee on Law and Criminal Justice at the Washington Center, and the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany and the Dougherty County Hospital Authority Board. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the departmental Teacher of the Year award more than a dozen times at Albany State University, the 2018 and 2019 Beverly Burton New Board Member of the Year Award for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia and the Southeast Region, 2016 Recipient of the Justice Leah Ward Sears Award for Distinction in the Profession by the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the 2016 Recipient of the USG Chancellor's Recognition for Distinguished Service to the University System of Georgia, and the 2015 Trailblazer Award by the UGA Black Law Student Association.