I considered that possibility, but on going to the Chico website, I didn't find any indication that she was syndicated from the AJC. Usually, the "paper of record" is right out there with the writers name. Unfortunately the Chico rag won't show the whole article unless one registers, but acknowledgment of affiliation is usually NOT "behind the paywall".
The ajc.com site has a page from 2011: "Cynthia Tucker to leave AJC for UGA." She left "to become a visiting professor at the University of Georgia’s journalism school." Apparently she's still teaching there and enlightening the minds of everyone (just listen to her and think the opposite).