Early Years

Michael Thurmond was born in rural Clarke County, the youngest of nine children of the late Sidney and Vanilla Thurmond. He graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Paine College in 1975 and later earned a Juris Doctorate degree form the University of South Carolina School of Law.

In 1978, Thurmond returned to Athens to practice law and took an active role in that city's civic and political affairs. In 1986, he became the first African-American elected to the Georgia General Assembly from Clarke County since Reconstruction. During his legislative tenure, he was the only African-American legislator elected from a majority white district.

Policy Maker

While serving in the General Assembly, Representative Thurmond authored major legislation that has provided over $200 million in tax refunds to Georgia's senior citizens and low-income working families.

In 1994, Governor Zell Miller called on Thurmond to direct Georgia's transition from welfare to work. He created the innovative "Workfirst" program, which has helped over 90,000 welfare-dependent families move into the workforce, saving Georgia taxpayers over $200 million.

Thurmond was elected Labor Commissioner in November of 1998.

Scholar/Author

In 1997, Thurmond became the Distinguished Practitioner/Lecturer at the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. In 2005, He published his acclaimed second book entitled "Freedom: An African-American History of Georgia."

Personal

Commissioner Thurmond is a member of the Ebenezer West Baptist Church of Athens. He and his wife Zola are the proud parents of a daughter Mikaya.