CIVIC LEADER, BUSINESSMAN RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATES

Honorary doctorates were presented to civic leader Dr. Robert Tucker of LaGrange and Atlanta businessman Jerry Wilkinson during this year's Commencement ceremony.

Dr. Robert Tucker

Dr. Tucker was born in LaGrange in 1942 as the eighth of 13 children. He attended public schools in LaGrange and graduated from East Depot High School in 1960. After graduation, he enrolled at Morehouse College where he earned a degree in mathematics. He worked for 40 years in the DeKalb County School District, starting as a classroom teacher. He eventually became a school principal and associate superintendent for human resources. Meanwhile, he earned three additional degrees from Clark Atlanta University, including a doctorate in educational leadership.

Dr. Tucker returned to LaGrange in 2012 and became the driving force behind the Calumet Park Neighborhood Association. In 2016, the group worked with the Georgia Conservancy to draw up plans for the revitalization of Calumet Village.

Those projects included upgrading Calumet Park, improving general safety and street safety, providing job training, focusing on education from the pre-K level to two years after high school and improving housing within the community.

He has enlisted the help of LaGrange College students in neighborhood projects over the years and has worked closely with the City of LaGrange and the Troup County School System. He also serves on the board of DASH (Dependable Affordable Sustainable Housing) for LaGrange.

Jerry Wilkinson

Wilkinson is a nationally known businessman who is recognized as a philanthropist and a leader in the field of real estate.

He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and a master’s in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also did post-graduate work at Harvard University.

Wilkinson is the founder and chairman of Wilkinson Companies, a privately held real estate investment, management and construction firm. He has directed the operations and growth of the Wilkinson Companies and its subsidiaries for more than 30 years.

He has served as president of the Atlanta Apartment Association, Georgia Apartment Association and the National Apartment Association. He is one of only 20 people in the past 80 years who has been inducted into the NAA Hall of Fame.

His writings have appeared in national publications and he is a guest lecturer at various organizations and schools.

Wilkinson has served on the board of directors for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Saint Joseph Hospital, Apartment Life Inc., Duke University School of Engineering and LaGrange College.

In 2017, the LaGrange College Servant Scholars program was named the Wilkinson Family Servant Scholars Program to honor Wilkinson and his family for their support of the institution. He was named an LC Honorary Alumnus in the fall of 2019.