Early life and business career
Nagin was born on June 11, 1956,[8] in New Orleans' Charity Hospital, to a family of modest means.[9] His childhood was typical of that of urban youth,[9] and his father held two jobs: a janitor at New Orleans City Hall by night and a fabric cutter at a clothing factory by day. After the factory shut down, his father became a fleet mechanic at a local dairy[10] to earn sufficient pay to support his family. His mother was employed as manager of a Kmart in-store restaurant.
The family lived on Allen Street in the 7th Ward, followed by a stay near their family parish, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Tremé, and then a move to the Cutoff section of Algiers.[10] Nagin attended St. Augustine High School and O. Perry Walker High School,[10] where he played basketball and baseball. He enrolled at historically black Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, on a baseball scholarship, played on championship teams, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 1978.[9] He became a Certified Public Accountant.
After graduating from college, he went to work in the purchasing department at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to Los Angeles, California, then to Dallas, Texas in 1981 to take Internal Audit Manager and Division Controller jobs with Associates Corporation.[10]
In 1982, Nagin married Seletha Smith, a New Orleans native.[10] Together, they had three children. In 1985, Nagin returned to New Orleans to become the controller of Cox New Orleans, the city's cable television franchise,[10] run by the Cox media conglomerate. The franchise had a history of customer complaints, low profits, and stagnant growth, and was one of the poorest-performing components within Cox. Nagin was quickly promoted to general manager. In 1989, he was appointed to oversee all of Cox properties in south Louisiana as vice-president and general manager of Cox Louisiana, earning $400,000 annually, according to CNBC's "American Greed".
In 1993, Nagin enrolled in the executive MBA program at Tulane University. Nagin also lobbied at the local, State, and Federal government levels, as many of the businesses he managed were regulated and required formal franchise renewals. His public profile was high because he hosted a twice-weekly television call-in show for customers.
In 1995, Nagin received the Young Leadership Council Diversity and Role Model Award and later sat on the boards of the United Way and Covenant House. He also was one of the founders and president of 100 Black Men of metro New Orleans, an affiliate of the national organization of black businessmen.
Nagin was a partner in a group that brought the New Orleans Brass to the city.[11] Nagin became the team's president and investors' spokesman as they secured the hockey franchise.[10] The initial popularity of the team allowed the group to secure the 18,000-seat New Orleans Arena as its home venue.[10] That year, the local alternative newspaper Gambit Weekly named Nagin as its New Orleanian of the Year.[12]
