At their November breakfast meeting, the Cobb Chamber East Cobb Area Council selected its 2017 Citizen of the Year: Senator Johnny Isakson. The Citizen of the Year Award is given to honor an individual whose impact through the years are recognized and regarded with pride throughout the area as a role model. These outstanding citizens are chosen for their definable, exceptional deeds, with which he or she has made their community a better place to live.

Senator Isakson has served in many capacities of leadership in Cobb County’s civic and community involvement. Here are a few achievements noted on the Citizen of the Year nomination form:

  • Johnny Isakson helped start the East Cobb Lions Club and has been supportive and very helpful to every community service club in Cobb County.
  • He has been very supportive of the educational system of Cobb County and East Cobb.
  • He has always been a big help with school SPLOST programs and has certainly been a great source of leadership to every school in Cobb County.
  • In 1996 he served as chair of the Georgia Board of Education and did an exceptional job. His three children have all gone through the Cobb County School System.
  • Johnny served in the Georgia General Assembly for seven terms (1976-1990), including four as minority leader.
  • Johnny represented Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in the United States House of Representative from 1999-2005.
  • Johnny was elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Sixth Congress as Senator in 2004 and is still holding that office as the Senior Senator from Georgia.

He is the first Georgian since the 1800s to have served in the state House, state Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. He also served Georgia as chairman of the Georgia Board of Education. Johnny is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate, and is the only Republican in the Senate chairing two committees — the Senate Ethics Committee, and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Senate HELP Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Johnny and his wife, Dianne, have been married since 1968. They have three grown children and nine grandchildren.

This article originally appeared in the January issue of the EAST COBBER magazine, on page 12. Click HERE to access the digital edition.