Poole College Alum Jack Tucker Embraces ‘Dream Come True’ Career Opportunity

Poole College of Management alumnus Jack Tucker (‘19) is on the cusp of realizing a dream that began in undergrad: he’ll be a clerk for the Supreme Court during the 2026 term. 

“It was a moment I’ll never forget,” Tucker says of learning that he’d been selected for Justice Clarence Thomas’ clerkship. “It was the culmination of a six-year journey of taking things day by day and focusing on the task at hand and hoping that this opportunity may come, but viewing it as a dream most of the time.

“To have that come true was one of the most exciting things that could happen in my career.”

Starting at Poole

Tucker is thoughtful as he talks about his path from Poole to the nation’s highest court.

He arrived at NC State with plans to study engineering, but quickly learned his interests lay elsewhere.

“When I got to NC State, I quickly found during my first-year freshman courses that I really liked to write and think analytically about different problems, and debating with people about ideas,” Tucker recalls.

As he thought about a career path that would maximize those interests, the answer, he discovered, was law.

Tucker was a Park Scholar at NC State, and in fact, his acceptance to the Park program was pivotal in his decision to attend the university. So as he considered changing course in his studies, it was mentors within the program that helped him pivot. After conversations with Eva Feucht, director of the Park Scholarships program, Tucker chose to pursue a Bachelor of Science in economics in the Poole College of Management.

“Park is a tremendous program because you come in and it motivates you, alongside your fellow classmates, to figure out what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at doing, and how you can build toward a career that blends those,” he says.

Once he began his studies within Poole, Tucker says he found another network of professors and peers. Courses such as Foundations of Capitalism helped him understand both the math and the theory of economics, he says.

“It helped me to think more deeply about why our society is structured the way that it is,” Tucker says. “Economics is, in a sense, the study of human incentives, and the law is shaping human incentives,” he says.

Experiences outside the classroom while at NC State further prepared him for what was ahead. Combined support from Poole College and the Park program helped him secure internships at the North Carolina General Assembly, and with an economic think tank in downtown Raleigh. 

During his final semester, Tucker lived in Washington, D.C., working for then-Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Professor Wally Thurman recommended him for a student symposium on property rights and economics in Montana and later supported his law school applications.

He took that analytical framework he’d built in undergrad forward with him in his law studies. He was able to graduate from NC State in just three years. His undergraduate experiences made him a highly qualified candidate for law school, and Tucker received a full scholarship when he enrolled in law school at the University of Virginia.

Law School to Law Clerk

Tucker selected UVA for law school because he says it’s known as a collegial program, something he’d experienced at NC State and hoped to mirror as he pursued his law degree.

He built upon an extensive resume from there that included clerkships with Judge Andrew L. Brasher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and then Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Tucker has worked in private practice as well.

He says he can trace his first exposure to the idea of a Supreme Court clerkship back to NC State and the Park program, when Park Scholars traveled to Washington, D.C. during his sophomore year. It was there that they met John O’Quinn, an NC State alumnus who had clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia.

“I thought in that moment, what a cool job,” Tucker says. “What an honor that would be.”

“NC State is an everything school. I learned things in the economics department that were fundamental to the way I viewed the world and the law.”

With such a prestigious opportunity ahead of him, Tucker remains grounded and loyal to his roots. He hopes to arrange opportunities for current Park Scholars to learn about the work of the Supreme Court, and his long-term plans ideally include serving his home state of Alabama in some way.

“I grew up in Alabama and have had a number of mentors from the state, many of whom are public servants,” he says. “The way that they have taken care of me and helped me accomplish any of the things that I’ve accomplished motivates me to ultimately come home and serve my home state in some capacity.”

He reflects, too, on the foundation that NC State and Poole College provided as he embarks on this next chapter.

“NC State is an everything school,” Tucker says. “I learned things in the economics department that were fundamental to the way I viewed the world and the law.

“It’s a place where you’ve got a great blend of people from different backgrounds who think differently about the world and who are willing in good faith to engage and talk about ideas.”