"An Age 9 to 90 Work Ethic ... plus a few political secrets!"

Sam Massell, a life-long resident of Atlanta, has had successful careers in real estate brokerage, elected office, the field of tourism, and association management.

          He spent twenty years as a Realtor, becoming Vice President of Allan-Grayson Realty Company, then one of the city’s largest commercial brokerage firms.  During that time, he was elected a charter member of the Atlanta Real Estate Board’s Million Dollar Club and was honored three times with the Cates Trophy by the Georgia Association of Real Estate Boards for creating the “Outstanding Transaction of the Year.”

          While in real estate, Massell became extremely active in a wide range of civic work, which eventually led to the political arena.  He served twenty-two years in elected offices, including eight as President of Atlanta’s Board of Aldermen (now known as the City Council) and four as this city’s Mayor.  While holding that office, he was also chosen as President of the 15,000-member National League of Cities.  In addition, he has served a four-year term on the Board of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and was a Board Member of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

          Among other achievements, his administration as Mayor is credited with establishing MARTA (Atlanta’s mass transit program), with developing the city’s first enclosed arena (the Omni Coliseum), and with providing the “Five Points” Central City Woodruff Park, all with no call on ad valorem taxes.  He also pioneered minority opportunities in city government, appointing the first female to Atlanta’s City Council and the first Blacks as City Department heads.

          After leaving full-time public service, he entered the tourism business in Buckhead where he operated for thirteen years under the name of Your Travel Agent Sam Massell.  He is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC), and a former President of the Travel Industry Association of Georgia.

          Mayor Massell now manages a nonprofit civic organization as the 1988 founding President of the Buckhead Coalition.  This is a prestigious association of Chief Executive Officers of major businesses in this area on the north side of Atlanta who have pooled their strengths to nurture the quality of life and guide the orderly growth of Buckhead.

          He has been honored by induction into the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau “Hospitality Hall of Fame”; Georgia Municipal Association “Government Hall of Fame”; Georgia State University Robinson College “Business Hall of Fame”; Georgia Trend Magazine “Most Influential Georgian’s Hall of Fame”, and International Civil Rights King Center “Walk of Fame”. His life is chronicled in a biography (“Play It Again, Sam”) by Charles McNair and Mercer University Press.