Nancy Tucker's boundless energy and ambition have made it difficult to pinpoint just exactly what she does. Maybe the question should be what, if anything, doesn't Nancy Tucker do? Since graduating from the University in 1976 with a dual major in fine arts and biology, Tucker has forged an eclectic career that defies categorization. She is an accomplished singer-songwriter, acoustic guitarist, comedian, actor, children's performer, prop designer, and one-woman show.

Tucker has written and performed three children's shows, a one-woman show for adults, custom comedy shows for corporate banquets, and family shows, as well as performing at instrumental venues for a total of some 150 shows a year. Her shows are a potpourri of original material, including funny songs, serious songs, comedy, character sketches, and musical compositions designed for audiences ages 5 to 90.

Tucker's own love of music began at age five when she watched her idol, Victor Borge, perform on TV. She knew then that she wanted to be a performer. "[Borge] plays with words the way that I do," she said. During the 1960s, Tucker taught herself to play the guitar by listening to folk music on the radio.

In her 23-year career in the entertainment industry, Tucker has produced numerous recordings, most recently children's CDs, instrumental CDs, and children's songs for CD-ROM. In 1996, she received the award for Outstanding Achievement as a Performing Singer-songwriter by the Connecticut Songwriters Association. In 1980, she was named the association's Connecticut Songwriter of the Year.

Tucker's wide range of interests led her to the University of Hartford. The University's diverse selection of programs and its contract major option allowed her to orchestrate a degree in both art and biology. While on campus, she performed several times at the coffeehouse and took part in outdoor performances. In addition to earning her degree in the fields of art and biology, she was motivated by her friends at The Hartt School to continue her musical performances.

Through the late Elisabeth Swain, who was a professor of biology and chair of the department, Tucker got her first job teaching at the University. Swain came to all of Tucker's shows and was the inspiration for many of her songs and acts.

These days, Tucker is leaning more toward writing than performing. She has just completed writing her second one-woman show and is working on a series of stories and memories in which Swain will make an appearance. She is also writing songs for other people to perform.

Tucker continues to steer her career in new and unusual directions. She is currently working on structural changes to a guitar that she intends to patent. She likes to take things apart, see how they work, and get them to work better, she says.

As if this weren't enough to keep her occupied for several lifetimes, she also has received certification as a veterinary technician and now takes in and cares for needy animals.

One reward of having a range of talents is that Tucker never does any one thing long enough to become restless, according to E. Kyle Minor in a recent feature article on Tucker in The New York Times.

Michelle Godin is a graduate intern in the University's Office of Communications