Elbert Marion Rucker received his A.B. and LL.B. degrees from the University of South Carolina. He practiced law from 1887 until 1910 and was a Law Professor at the University of South Carolina from 1910 until his death in 1926. From 1893 until 1897, he was Assistant United States Attorney for the Department of the Interior.
In 1886, Professor Rucker married Miss Susan Elizabeth Kinard of Columbia and, after her death, he married Miss Mary Mitchell Martin of Florence, Alabama.
He was nationally renowned as a lecturer on Chautauqua programs, and was in great demand as a public speaker.
“In the lecture room and on the campus, his influence among the students was great and none was superior in furthering their activities. For thoughtless lapse, he was quick to aid and forgive, but woe to the miscreant guilty of base conduct.”