George “Duke” Deukmejian (born 1928 in Menands, New York) is one of California’s most renowned career politicians. Deukmejian earned a BA in Sociology from Siena College and a Juris Doctor from St. John’s University. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the US Army, assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Deukmejian first came to prominence in the 1960s, when he served as a California State Assembly member (1963-1967), representing the 39th District. He became a State senator in 1966, and, by 1969, was the majority leader in the State Senate. With a tough-on-crime mandate, Deukmejian served as California’s attorney general from 1979 to 1983. He subsequently became governor of California, the most populous US state, serving two terms (1979-1991).