Sharon N. Tucker (J.D. 1974)

A native of Dublin, Georgia, Sharon ``Nyota'' Tucker was born to the union of Mr. Willis Tucker and Mrs. Cornelia Tucker. During her junior year of high school, she joined six of her fellow classmates from Oconee High School in the integration of the previously all-white Dublin High School. This first-hand experience with desegregation convinced her that becoming a lawyer was the most effective means of combating racism, upholding the constitutional rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence, and forcing a system to correct itself. Tucker went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard University, and subsequently became 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.