John M. Isaacson founded Isaacson, Miller in 1982. John was diverted from his natural career in his twenties by an academic and civic engagement, which took him to Dartmouth for a BA; to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship for a BA/MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; and to Harvard Law School. Following law school, he chose a career in public service. He launched his career as an assistant to the Secretary of Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He served three governors and five secretaries of human services over eight years, recruiting cabinet officers and commissioners. In between recruiting assignments, he served as an Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, as an Assistant Secretary of the Executive Office of Human Services, and as the Director of the Office for Children. In his time with Isaacson, Miller, John has led searches in many areas of the firm's practice. He has helped the firm develop its cumulative knowledge of the craft of search and has attended, with increasing interest, to the missionary purposes of institutions, the political and economic disciplines of specialized markets, and the emotional and intellectual learnings that leaders acquire in a committed working life.