Tom Tucker has more than 41 years of leadership experience, spanning areas from management and training to law enforcement and security positions. Tucker brings the knowledge and skills developed through those years to his position as director of the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT) at Louisiana State University (LSU). He assumed his leadership role at the NCBRT in October of 2002.
Under his direction, the NCBRT has expanded to meet the homeland security needs of the nation. Employees have increased significantly, yet consistently, with the mission of the NCBRT. Certified Department of Homeland Security (DHS) courses now total 30, and more subject matter experts and course instructors have joined the NCBRT family. The organizational growth of the NCBRT has resulted in the training of approximately 22,000 emergency responders throughout the United States and U.S. territories in the 2006 calendar year alone.
Before arriving at the NCBRT, Tucker previously served as director of the U.S. Department of State, Antiterrorism Assistance Program (ATAP) for nine years. Four of those years also marked simultaneous service as director of the NCBRT as well.
Tucker arrived at LSU following a distinguished 26-year career with the U.S. Army. He retired at the rank of colonel. His career encompassed numerous senior leadership positions in the police, security and corrections fields stateside, as well as overseas. Prior to his retirement, Tucker served as garrison commander (mayor/city manager) and law enforcement commander (director of public safety) at Fort Polk, LA. Tucker also served as a battalion commander at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, KS. Throughout his career, Tucker accepted assignments involving ever increasing responsibility that called for exercising initiative and dynamic leadership.
Tucker earned a BS degree in Physical Education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a MS degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Baltimore. Since retiring from the U.S. Army, Tucker has devoted 15 years of active involvement in the areas of adult education, specifically in areas that deal with law enforcement and program management. His community involvements include collaboration with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, leadership in neighborhood organizations, and board membership on the Police and Fire Municipal Board. Tucker currently resides in Baton Rouge, LA with his wife of 42 years, Ellen. His son, Major John D. Tucker, is presently the Operations Officer of a CID Group at Fort Gillem, GA, where he resides with his wife Bridget and their two boys John Thomas and Jack Henry. His daughter, Aimee, her husband, Mark, and their daughter, Tucker Ellen, live in Washington, D.C., where Aimee teaches kindergarten in the Kendall School on the campus of Gallaudet University.