Gloria Ann Whittico graduated from the College of William and Mary with a dual degree (A.B. with Latin honors) in English and Philosophy and went on to study law at the University of Virginia School of Law. Whittico worked in the business sector for over ten years as both in-house counsel and in corporate management. She entered the academy when she taught at Hampton University and also worked as a pre-law advisor. She now serves as an associate professor at Regent University School of Law where she teaches several courses, including Race and the Law.
Whittico's scholarly agenda focuses on research regarding the 19th century “freedom suit” legal cause of action in which enslaved persons sued for liberation in the courts of the United States. Her most recent publication sheds light upon the freedom suits brought by several groups of women in the courts of the state of Missouri, who, after pleading claims for their own freedom, returned to court to sue for the freedom of their children. She is currently engaged in research into the statutes and case law in the state of Virginia that were at the heart of the freedom suit as a cause of action. These state statutes and cases pre-date the Missouri cases, including the most well-known of these law suits, the Missouri lawsuit filed by Dred Scott on April 6, 1846 in the circuit court in the city of St. Louis.
In addition to teaching and scholarship, she is active in efforts that aim to increase the number of people of color in the legal profession. She continues to serve as a consultant to the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (CLEO, Inc.). In this capacity, she teaches and mentors students selected by CLEO, Inc. for intensive, cohort-based programs designed to prepare students for the rigors of law school.