thoughtleaders
BY TOBY GOOLEY, MANAGING EDITOR
por t
authority
interview with
Kurt J. Nagle
With more than 30 years of experience
promoting international trade, Kurt Nagle
has the right stuff to lead the American
Association of Port Authorities—a group that
serves ports from Alaska to Argentina.
DESPITE ITS NAME, THE AMERICAN ASSOCIAtion of Port Authorities (AAPA) is a truly international organization. Its 160-plus member ports hail from
throughout the Western Hemisphere, from Alaska to
Argentina. It’s a constituency whose main business is
facilitating global commerce; it is fitting, then, that
President and CEO Kurt J. Nagle has a long history in
promoting international trade.
After earning a master’s degree in economics from
George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Nagle went
to work in the Office of International Economic
Research at the U.S. Department of Commerce. From
there, he became director of international trade for
the National Coal Association and assistant secretary for the Coal Exporters Association. This
year, he celebrated his 25th anniversary with AAPA, which he has headed since 1995. He also
serves on the Executive Committee of the Propeller Club of the United States and is a former commissioner of PIANC, the International Navigation Congress.
Nagle speaks quickly but quietly, and his style is low-key—it’s hard to imagine him getting angry
