Robert D. Rucker

Robert D. Rucker (born 1952) was the 105th justice appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court. He retired May 12, 2017. Born in Canton, Georgia, Rucker grew up in Gary, Indiana. He joined the army and served in the 1st Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War, where he earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.He is a graduate of Indiana University (B.A. 1974) and Valparaiso University School of Law (J.D. 1976). He earned a Master of Laws degree in the judicial process from the University of Virginia Law School in 1998. Justice Rucker served as a Judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, having been appointed to that position in 1991 by Indiana Governor Evan Bayh. He was the first African American to serve on the Indiana Court of Appeals and thus making him the first African American appellate judge in the State of Indiana. While on the Court of Appeals, Justice Rucker served as vice-chair of the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education. As a lawyer, Justice Rucker served on the board of directors of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association and on the board of directors of the Northwest Indiana Legal Services Organization. He also served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Lake County, Indiana, City Attorney for the City of Gary, and practiced general law in East Chicago, Indiana. Justice Rucker was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court by Governor Frank O'Bannon in 1999. He is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Indiana, succeeding Myra Selby, the first African American, and the first woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court of Indiana. Justice Rucker is the only Court of Appeals judge to ever be elevated to the Supreme Court. Since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1999 he has served on the longest continuous group of justices to serve together in the Court's long and distinguished history, ten years and counting. Justice Rucker has authored over 450 majority opinions and issued over 100 dissents during his tenure on both the