Robert C. "Bob" Sink has always exhibited the highest standards of professionalism and excellence in his 40-plus-year career as an attorney in North Carolina. In addition to his impressive legal career, his civic endeavors have had an enormous impact on the Mecklenburg County community.
A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Bob moved to North Carolina with his family in early childhood. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University in 1957 and served as an officer in the Navy before returning to get his J.D. from Duke School of Law in 1965. Upon graduation, Bob moved to Charlotte and has been a practicing member of the Mecklenburg County Bar ever since. Throughout his career he has served in a variety of volunteer leadership positions, including serving as Mecklenburg County Bar President in 1986-87 and President of the N.C. State Bar in 1998-99. Bob also represented North Carolina in the American Bar Association House of Delegates for four years and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
In addition to his outstanding service to the legal profession and to the Bar, Bob has also been dedicated to serving our community. Two sterling examples have come in recent years. First was the leadership he provided in the midst of a volatile, public controversy about the management of the United Way of the Carolinas. Bob chaired a task force of distinguished citizens, all serving on a pro bono basis, to make recommendations on appropriate changes to the governance structure of the United Way -- changes that have now been implemented to the benefit of both United Way and the community.
A few years later, Bob was instrumental in the formation and work of another task force, this time as a long-time trustee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. In the wake of an unprecedented reduction in County revenues and funding, Bob spent countless pro bono hours contributing to the work of the Future of the Library Task Force and the implementation of its comprehensive recommendations, which acknowledged the crucial value of public libraries and the reality of reduced public funding.
Fellow attorneys with whom Bob has dealt over his career know him to be an exceptional person -- in competence, integrity, character and professionalism. His partners write: "Simply put, Bob has graciously, unassumingly, unselfishly, and most constructively given of himself and his exceptional judgment, competence and character to the well-being of our profession and community for his entire career."
It is for these reasons and many more that we are proud to award Bob Sink the 2013-14 Ayscue Professionalism Award.