CUMBERLAND — Dr. Ron Newcomb, president emeritus of Chattahoochee Technical College, was named Cobb County Citizen of the Year by the Marietta Daily Journal during the Cobb Chamber’s annual dinner Saturday evening.
In front of a crowd of 1,100, MDJ Publisher Otis Brumby III took the stage at the Cobb Galleria Centre to present Newcomb with the honor.
In his 36 years at Chattahoochee Technical College, and its pre-merger predecessor North Metro Technical College, Newcomb helped evolve the school into one of Georgia’s largest technical colleges, serving more than 11,000 students across nine campuses.
After hearing his name in a tribute video, Newcomb looked around his table at family and friends, taken aback by the surprise.
Every year since 1963, the MDJ has recognized distinguished and deserving residents for their efforts to improve the quality of life in Cobb County. Among previous winners are former Gov. Roy Barnes (1998), the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (1988) and Cobb NAACP President Emerita Deane Bonner (2023).
In his acceptance speech, Newcomb told the crowd he was humbled to be receiving the award, but that he was not alone in making all his accomplishments come to life.
“I can’t accept this for anything Ron Newcomb did,” he said. “I can accept it for all the folks back at TCSG (Technical College System of Georgia) and Chatt. Tech, the faculty and staff … the students who want to come to get the skills and knowledge to have a better life for themselves and their family. To help pursue that American dream, I accept it for that.”
Described as “one of the best leaders Cobb County has ever had,” Newcomb’s educational career was marked by numerous instances of perseverance in the form of economic downturns, college mergers and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Growing up in Leesburg, Georgia, Newcomb’s father left school in the eighth grade and later earned his GED and nursing certification, while his mother, a registered nurse, modeled a work ethic by balancing overnight shifts with raising her family.
From a young age, Newcomb said his parents instilled in him the values of hard work and resilience that would later shape his life and career.
In 1988, he moved to Bartow County to help establish North Metro Technical Institute. At the time, the campus was little more than a concrete foundation and a few steel beams.
Over the decades, he oversaw its growth into a robust institution offering more than 50 programs, including healthcare, business and technical trades.
In 2009, North Metro merged with Appalachian Technical College and Chattahoochee Technical College to form one of the state’s largest technical colleges. Newcomb, who had been acting president at North Metro, became executive vice president of the merged institution and later its president in 2012.
In August of 2024, Newcomb announced his retirement from the institution, marking the end of a 40-plus-year era of service to Georgia’s public education system and local government.
Over the course of his career, Newcomb, who also served on the Smyrna City Council, worked alongside multiple Georgia governors to help shape education policy throughout the state.
As the education adviser to former Gov. Roy Barnes, Newcomb championed reforms that included transitioning technical institutes into colleges, reducing class sizes and establishing an independent, nonpartisan Education Accountability Office.
During Saturday evening’s presentation, a tribute video for the Citizen of the Year Award was played, featuring interviews by Barnes, former Marietta Schools Superintendent Emily Lembeck and Superior Plumbing CEO and President Jay Cunningham.
In the video tribute, Barnes called Newcomb the “architect” of all educational changes that happened during his time as governor.
“(Newcomb) was a vital part of our administration and the effort to improve public education in Georgia,” Barnes said. “We’re gonna miss him in leading Chattahoochee Tech, but he leaves it to us much better than he received it.”
Lembeck called Newcomb a “visionary,” saying he fought for the future of education.
“He was very much a doer,” Lembeck said. “And while he may be relaxing a little bit … I think somehow he’ll always be doing, because that’s just who he is and what he’s about. He’ll always be a doer.”
In the video tribute, Cunningham praised Newcomb’s dedication to education, saying he saw what he needed to do.
“He saw the goal of (the Technical College System of Georgia), of getting jobs in Georgia and Ron’s focus in Georgia and in Cobb probably led to say 100,000 jobs in Georgia over the 40 years,” Cunningham said. “Dr. Newcomb is a humble man full of honor and humility who does not seek attention. That’s what makes this honor all the sweeter.”
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