Graham Tucker was born on 19 August 1924 at Moonee Ponds, Melbourne. Tucker was educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew, and began work as a clerk with the Vacuum Oil Co. Pty Ltd. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 27 August 1942 and served as a radio operator. In 1946 Tucker entered the University of Melbourne (B.Com. Hons, 1950) under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. In 1950 he was appointed senior tutor in the Department of Economic History. He then studied at Christ's College, Cambridge (PhD, 1954). Tucker returned to the University of Melbourne in 1954 and was Lecturer (1954), Senior Lecturer (1956) and Reader (1959) in Economic History. In January 1961 he was appointed Professor and Chair of Economic History in the Faculty of Economics, School of General Studies at the Australian National University. He held the post until 1979. He was twice a member of Council and served on several Council committees. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Economics on three occasions. Tucker died on 29 May 1980 in Canberra.

The Australian National University Calendar, 1961-1980
Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tucker-graham-shardalow-lee-977 (accessed on 28 November 2011)
Obituaries Australia, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/tucker-graham-shardalow-lee-977 (accessed on 28 November 2011)