George Martin Zinkhan III was born on February 17, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in a typical American family, but specific details about his early childhood are not widely known. He showed an interest in education early on and pursued his academic goals passionately throughout his life.

In 1974, Zinkhan graduated from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature. After completing his undergraduate degree, he continued his education at the University of Michigan. There, he earned a Master's in Business Administration with high distinction in 1979. He followed this achievement with a doctorate in business administration, also from the University of Michigan, in 1981.

Zinkhan began his professional career in academia shortly after completing his doctorate. He took a position at the University of Houston, where he became the Conn Professor of Marketing in 1981. He held this position for thirteen years and was recognized for his work, but it was also during this time that he faced serious allegations of misconduct.

In 1987, Zinkhan briefly served as an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business in 1994. Over the years, he held various important roles, including department head for Marketing and Distribution and an endowed chair as the Coca-Cola Company Professor.

Zinkhan achieved significant recognition for his contributions to marketing and academia. He was awarded an Outstanding Contribution to Research Award from the American Academy of Advertising in 2004. He received the Terry Outstanding Faculty Award in both 2006 and 2009.

In addition to his academic roles, Zinkhan was also a poet. He published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited several academic publications. He was active in the marketing field and contributed to various scholarly works.

In his personal life, Zinkhan had a marriage to Marie Bruce, an attorney, and together they had two children. He also had three children from a previous marriage. The family resided in Bogart, Georgia, and Zinkhan owned a second home in Amsterdam, where he worked as a marketing professor at the Vrije Universiteit.

On April 25, 2009, George Martin Zinkhan III was named the prime suspect in a shooting at the Athens Community Theatre in Athens, Georgia. The shooting resulted in the deaths of his wife, Marie Bruce, and two other individuals, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague. These three were part of a picnic reunion for the Town & Gown Players, a local theater group. Witnesses reported that two bystanders were also injured due to bullet fragments during the incident. Police stated that Zinkhan and his wife had been experiencing marital problems. It was revealed that Tom Tanner was likely Zinkhan's intended target, while Ben Teague was caught in the crossfire.

After the shootings, Zinkhan was charged with three counts of murder. A state arrest warrant was issued on the same day, and a federal arrest warrant followed the next day when he was accused of fleeing to avoid prosecution. His red Jeep Liberty was discovered on April 30, 2009, in northwest Clarke County.

On May 9, 2009, cadaver dogs located Zinkhan's body about one mile from where his vehicle had been found. Investigators reported that Zinkhan had dug a grave in the woods behind Cleveland Road Elementary. He lay down in the grave, placed an old wooden pallet on top, and then shot himself with a .38-caliber handgun. His body was claimed by a son from a previous marriage, just before it was set to be buried in a pauper's grave.