Alan Z. Thornburg (born January 10, 1967) is an American lawyer and jurist, formerly a judge on the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...

. Born in

Sylva, North Carolina Sylva is an incorporated town located in central Jackson County, in the Plott Balsam Mountains of Western North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 2,588. It is the county seat, taking over the ro ...

, Thornburg earned a history degree from

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

in 1989 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

in 1996. His father,

Lacy Thornburg Lacy Herman Thornburg (born December 20, 1929) is an American lawyer and retired United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. He served as the North Carolina attorney general from 198 ...

, is a former

North Carolina attorney general The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...

, state superior court judge, and federal district court judge. After serving as an aide to U.S. Senator

Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford served as the 65th Governor of North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, was a two-time U.S. pre ...

and working in private practice in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

from 1997 to 2004, Thornburg was named to the

in 2004. He is married and has two children. In 2004, Thornburg sought a full eight-year term on the

, but was defeated by

Barbara Jackson Barbara Jackson (born December 25, 1961) is an American attorney and jurist who was elected in 2010 to an eight-year term on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Jackson moved to Wake County at the age of 3 and graduated Athens Drive High School in ...

in the statewide judicial elections. Gov.

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been convicted of a felony. A member of ...

appointed Thornburg to the

North Carolina Board of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...

in 2005 and then appointed him to a

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judgeship in 2009. He was elected to keep his seat on the superior court bench in the November 2010 election. Thornburg is currently the senior resident superior court judge for

Buncombe County Buncombe County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is A ...

.Buncombe County
/ref>

References

News & Observer: Easley makes DOT board member a judge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornburg, Alan Z. 1967 births Living people North Carolina Court of Appeals judges Wake Forest University alumni People from Sylva, North Carolina