Lester George Jackson III (born July 26, 1959) is an American politician, educator, and dentist. He is a former state senator from

Chatham County, Georgia Chatham County ( ) is located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on the state's Atlantic coast. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. One of the original counties of Georgia, Chatham County was created February 5, 1777, and is named after Will ...

.Senator Lester G. Jackson
Senate.ga.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2013. He was the 2009 presidential appointee to the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

, becoming the first person from the coastal region of Georgia to serve in this capacity in over 19 years.

Biography

A Savannah family dentist, Jackson was first elected to the State Senate in 2008 following 10 years of service in the House of Representatives. He was named Georgia's Freshman Legislator of the Year in 1999 by Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. He served as assistant house majority whip. The Georgia Dental Association honored him as the Legislator of the Year in 2000 and 2002, and he received the 2001 Distinguished Service Award from the National Dental Association. In 2000, Jackson was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Boston; and again a delegate in Denver in 2008. He was selected by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus as its Legislator of the Year in 2008 and 2010. He is a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy Dental Society. As of 2013, Jackson served on the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Economic Development, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and Urban Affairs Committees. A lifelong resident of Savannah and a product of Chatham County public schools, Jackson received the Savannah Community Service Award in 2009. He is also the recipient of the 2009 Savannah State University Alumni Association Legislator of the Year Award. He attended Paine College and in 1985 received his doctor of dental surgery degree from

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first me ...

. He is an assistant adjunct professor at

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

and an adjunct professor at

Armstrong Atlantic State University Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong, O ...

. Jackson is a U.S. Navy veteran and a life member of the NAACP, and a life member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity. He is a charter member of the Savannah Chapter of the

100 Black Men 100 Black Men of America is a men's civic organization and service club whose stated goal is to educate and empower African-American children and teens. As of 2009 the organization has 110 chapters and more than 10,000 members in different citi ...

, and member of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

, Post 500. He and his wife, Dr. Lorna Jackson, have four children-- Charity Jackson, Lester Jackson IV, Leah Jackson, and Johnathan Jackson. He is also the Uncle to Tracey Watts Valencia.

References

External links

Profile
at the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

Lester Jackson for Labor Commissioner

Georgia State Senate bio of Jackson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Lester G. Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Living people Politicians from Savannah, Georgia African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American politicians African-American dentists American dentists 1959 births 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people

Biography

See also

References

External links