A C Wharton

A C Wharton Jr. (born August 17, 1944) is an American educator, politician, and attorney who served as the 63rd mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and previously mayor of Shelby County. He was the first African American to serve as mayor of Shelby County. Early life, education, and early career A C Wharton was born and raised in Lebanon, Tennessee. A C Wharton shares his name with his father and grandfather, and named his eldest son by the same name. Wharton has stated that his first name is simply the letters "A" and "C" and does not stand for anything else. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a degree in political science and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi. He became an academic, teaching at the university for 25 years. In 1980, then-Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris appointed Wharton as Chief Shelby County Public Defender. His concern for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system resulted in the Jericho Initiative, which became a national model program. He chaired the county's Jail Overcrowding Committee and developed new ways to reduce overcrowding without compromising public safety.