Isakson Appointed to Merchant Marine Academy Board of Visitors 

WASHINGTON (June 30, 2009) – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has been appointed to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be appointed to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy,” Isakson. “The academy prepares promising young men and women to serve as leaders in the maritime industry and the armed services.”

As a member of the Board of Visitors, Isakson will visit the academy annually and make recommendations on the operation of the academy. The academy, which is operated by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1943. Its college level, four-year program is fully accredited. More than 21,700 academy graduates have served the maritime industry and the Armed Forces both at sea and ashore.

The board consists of one senator appointed by the Vice President; two senators appointed by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; one member of the House of Representatives appointed by the speaker of the House; three members of the House of Representatives appointed jointly by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and by the chairman of the House Committee on National Security. 

As a U.S. senator, Isakson also has a role in nominating students to the Merchant Marine Academy. The annual nomination of young people to all of our nation’s military academies is the responsibility of each Member of Congress. Those nominees who are accepted into the academies are awarded full four-year scholarships, which are valued around $400,000 each on average and include tuition, books, board, medical and dental care. Since his election to the Senate in 2004, some 120 Isakson nominees have been accepted into U.S. military academies.