Professor Zack Tucker teaches web design in the design department at Sinclair College. Tucker holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and illustration as well as a master’s in educational technology, both from Southeast Missouri State University.
As a graduate student at the University of Illinois seeking a master’s of fine arts in graphic design, Tucker said he enjoyed “asking new questions and challenging the status quo. Sinclair has those same aspects that made it attractive for me.”
For Tucker, the process of graphic design is even more interesting than its product.
“I want to expose students to many different tools and processes,” he said. “Designers have a unique ability to make the future tangible.”
Tucker said he stays passionate about his work through “manifesting access, care and belonging in a diverse student population–bringing together people who would maybe never be together otherwise; students who are new immigrants, students who are older and learning new skills, and students who are entering the workforce for the first time.”
“I love meeting students where they are at, and seeing students take material and run with it in their own way,” he said. “Sinclair is ‘open access,’ meaning there are no prerequisites, unlike other four-year schools who require a portfolio. This creates more opportunities for students to study design and take it into the world.”
I want to match Sinclair students to the community at large, which matches Sinclair’s role as a community college: vital.
ZACK TUCKER
Tucker is also co-chair of the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ Design Educators Community (DEC) Steering Committee, which enables him to see how other schools approach and teach design across the country. “We offer a world-class education at Sinclair,” he said.
Recently, Sinclair’s Design Department wrote a proposal to host the 2026 AIGA Educators Conference on July 27-28, and was accepted. Sinclair is the first community college to host this conference.
Tucker said it will bring together design educators, researchers and practitioners from across the country.
“Hosting the conference at Sinclair highlights the essential role community colleges play in shaping the future of design education and expanding access to the field,” he said.
Tucker said fostering creativity in the classroom involves students feeling “safe and valued” with “space and time to be creative. Students are often told they are not enough, but I want to build their creative confidence,” he said.
Tucker said he wants to stay at Sinclair for the long haul.
“I really like working at Sinclair. I find a lot of joy working with the students,” he said. “I have a passion for expanding experiential opportunities, such as the upcoming computer programming Code for Dayton: a collaborative, integrative website to understand barriers to voting in our community.”
“I want to match Sinclair students to the community at large, which matches Sinclair’s role as a community college: vital,” he said. “Be the change you wish to see.”
Loura Lawrence, reporter/photographer
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