Robert Michael Isaac (January 27, 1928 – May 2, 2008) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 37th mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Elected in April 1979, he was the first popularly-elected mayor in the history of Colorado Springs, serving five four-year terms through 1997.

Early life and education

Isaac was born and raised in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. He graduated from Colorado Springs High School in 1945. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1951 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University of Southern California's

Gould School of Law The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated wit ...

in 1962.

Career

After graduating from the United States Military Academy, Isaac worked as a math teacher in Germany. Isaac was a partner in the law firm of Isaac, Johnson & Alpern. He served as assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for the Fourth Judicial District of Colorado in 1965 and 1966, and as a judge for the Colorado Springs Municipal Court from 1966 to 1969. He was a city councilman for Colorado Springs from April 1975 to April 1979. On September 29, 1983, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

nominated Isaac to be a member of the board of trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation for a term expiring December 10, 1987, succeeding Washington state legislator

Dick King Richard Philip King (1811–1871) was an English trader and colonist at Port Natal, a British trading station in the region now known as KwaZulu-Natal. He is best known for a historic horseback ride in 1842, where he completed a journey of i ...

. During his tenure,

KVUU KVUU (99.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Pueblo, Colorado, and serving the Colorado Springs-Pueblo media market, radio market. It airs a hot adult contemporary, Hot AC radio form ...

aired a daily drive-time segment called "Stump Mayor Bob", in which the DJs would call the mayor's office and ask him trivia questions. In 1997, the Colorado Springs

Municipal Court City court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cases ...

at 224 East Kiowa Street was renamed the ''Robert M. Isaac Municipal Court Building''. The terminal at the

Colorado Springs Municipal Airport City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport , known as Colorado Springs Airport, is a city-owned public civil-military airport southeast of downtown Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado, United States., effective December 30, 2021. It i ...

is also named in his honor.

Personal life

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

descent, he was twice-married and had five children. Isaac died on May 2, 2008, from complications from pneumonia.

External links

Nomination of Robert Michael Isaac to be a member of the board of trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship FoundationMunicipal Court
from the '' Colorado Springs Gazette'' *http://usmayors.org/usmayornewspaper/documents/05_19_08/pg3_isaac.asp

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, Robert M. 1928 births 2008 deaths Mayors of Colorado Springs, Colorado American politicians of Syrian descent Syrian Christians United States Military Academy alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Colorado Colorado Springs City Council members 20th-century American politicians Middle Eastern Christians American people of Syrian descent Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors