46 Notable alumni of
University of New Orleans
Updated:
The University of New Orleans is 1085th in the world, 393rd in North America, and 367th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 46 notable alumni from the University of New Orleans sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Ellen DeGeneres
- Occupations
- film actorLGBTQ rights activisttelevision producervoice actortelevision presenter
- Biography
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Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American retired comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She starred in the television sitcoms Ellen (1994–1998) and The Ellen Show (2001–2002). She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003–2022), for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2021, DeGeneres announced the end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, following multiple allegations of workplace bullying. The controversy led to internal investigations and a sharp decline in public support, culminating in her decision to retire from the talk show in 2022.
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Frank Ocean
- Occupations
- composerkeyboardistrecord producerrappersinger
- Biography
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Frank Ocean is an American singer and songwriter. His accolades include two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award. He has been credited by several music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre.
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Sal Khan
- Occupations
- entrepreneurcomputer scientistelectrical engineerYouTubermathematician
- Biography
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Salman Amin Khan is an American educator and the founder of Khan Academy, a free online non-profit educational platform with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, originally focusing on mathematics and science. He is also the founder of Khan Lab School, a private, in-person school in Mountain View, California.
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Taryn Terrell
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorprofessional wrestlermodelstunt performer
- Biography
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Taryn Nicole Dryden is an American model, actress, stuntwoman, ring announcer and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under her real name, and in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Tiffany.
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Mark Normand
- Occupations
- television actorstand-up comedianactorcomedian
- Biography
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Mark Normand is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He began performing stand-up in his hometown New Orleans in 2006. He has performed across the United States and abroad and has appeared on Conan, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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Kim McGuire
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Kim Diane McGuire was an American lawyer and author. A former actress, she was best known for her role of Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski in John Waters' 1990 comedy musical Cry-Baby.
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James H. Clark
- Occupations
- computer scientistengineerbusinessperson
- Biography
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James Henry Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in computer graphics led to the development of systems for the fast rendering of three-dimensional computer images.
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Dawn Richard
- Occupations
- singersongwriter
- Biography
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Dawn Angeliqué Richard is an American singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She began her career auditioning for MTV's Making the Band 3 in 2004, during which she formed the girl group Danity Kane.
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Brian Snitker
- Occupations
- baseball managerbaseball player
- Biography
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Brian Gerald Snitker is an American professional baseball coach, manager, and former player. He was the manager for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB) for 10 seasons from 2016 to 2025. Snitker has spent 49 years in the Braves organization, starting as a catcher and first baseman in the Braves' minor league system from 1977 to 1980.
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Pat Barry
- Occupations
- Thai boxerkickboxermixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Pat Barry is an American former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is particularly known for his low kicks.
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Michelle Miller
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Michelle Miller is a national correspondent for CBS News and currently serves as a co-host on CBS Saturday Morning. She has also served as a substitute anchor on CBS Mornings and 48 Hours on ID.
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Bo McCalebb
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Lester "Bo" McCalebb is an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Macedonian national team internationally. Standing at 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), he played at the point guard position. Born and raised in New Orleans, he attended the University of New Orleans. A two-time All-EuroLeague selection, McCalebb was part of the All-Tournament Team at EuroBasket 2011.
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Joseph Boyden
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Joseph Boyden CM is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for writing about First Nations culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Joseph Boyden's second novel, Through Black Spruce, follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as The Orenda.
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Ervin Johnson
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Ervin Johnson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who is a community ambassador for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA for the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves as a center from 1993 to 2006.
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Paul Mainieri
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Paul Mainieri is an American college baseball coach and former second baseman. He is currently the head baseball coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He played college baseball at LSU, Miami-Dade CC and New Orleans before pursuing a professional baseball career. He then served as the head coach of the St. Thomas Bobcats (1983–1988), the Air Force Falcons (1989–1994), the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1995–2006) and the LSU Tigers (2007–2021). Mainieri coached LSU to the 2009 College World Series Championship.
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Chloé Valdary
- Enrolled in the University of New Orleans
- In 2015 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- activistbloggercolumnist
- Biography
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Chloé Simone Valdary is an American writer and entrepreneur whose company, Theory of Enchantment, teaches social and emotional learning in schools, as well as diversity and inclusion in companies and government agencies.
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Anita Ratnam
- Occupations
- choreographerdancer
- Biography
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Anita Ratnam is an Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and tai chi and Kalarippayattu, thus creating a dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharatam".
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Jericho Brown
- Enrolled in the University of New Orleans
- In 2002 graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Jericho Brown is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as the University of Houston, the University of San Diego, and Emory University. His poems have been published in The Nation, New England Review, The New Republic, Oxford American, and The New Yorker, among others. He released his first book of prose and poetry, Please, in 2008. His second book, The New Testament, was released in 2014. His 2019 collection of poems, The Tradition, garnered widespread critical acclaim.
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Peter Halley
- Occupations
- painterartistuniversity teacherillustratorphotographer
- Biography
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Peter Halley is an American artist and a central figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement of the 1980s. Known for his Day-Glo geometric paintings, Halley is also a writer, the former publisher of index Magazine, and a teacher; he served as director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Yale University School of Art from 2002 to 2011. Halley lives and works in New York City.
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Johnny Giavotella
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Johnny Arthur Giavotella is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, and Baltimore Orioles. He is currently the general manager for the University of New Orleans Privateers baseball program.
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Jan Aronson
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Jan Aronson is a New Orleans-born artist working and living in New York City.
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Luke Winslow-King
- Occupations
- singerguitaristlyricistcomposermusician
- Biography
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Luke Winslow-King Balzuweit is an American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, and lyricist based out of Calatayud, Aragon, Spain. Winslow-King plays vintage blues and jazz music and is known for his slide guitar work. He is a music traditionalist, playing a mixture of "people's music" and improvisational jazz based in collective improvisation. He has been influenced by the music of New Orleans, where he was based for 15 years. These influences include jazz, Delta blues, ragtime, pre-war American folk, Béla Bartók and Antonín Dvořák's String Quartet No. 12 (American String Quartet), and Woody Guthrie.
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Jamison Ross
- Occupations
- drummer
- Biography
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Jamison Ross is an American jazz drummer and vocalist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He was the winner of the 2012 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Competition for drums.
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Brian Palermo
- Occupations
- screenwriterstage actortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Brian Palermo is an American character actor, science communicator, improv instructor and comedian. He has appeared in a number of television shows, commercials and movies. Palermo is also a writer whose credits include Warner Brothers' Histeria! and Disney's The Weekenders and Dave The Barbarian, both created by Doug Langdale. He is also a co-author with Randy Olson and Dorie Barton of the 2003 book, Connection: Hollywood Storytelling Meets Critical Thinking.
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Randy Bush
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Robert Randall Bush is a former Major League Baseball player and current front office member of the Chicago Cubs. He played 12 seasons for the Minnesota Twins from 1982 to 1993, mainly as an outfielder and designated hitter, compiling 96 home runs, 409 RBIs, and a career batting average of.251 in 1,219 games with Minnesota.
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Valerie Martin
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Valerie Martin is an American novelist and short story writer. Her novel Property (2003) won the Orange Prize for Fiction. In 2012, The Observer named Property as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
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Joey Butler
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Joseph Frank Butler is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, and St. Louis Cardinals, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes.
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Bunny Matthews
- Occupations
- cartoonist
- Biography
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Will Bunn "Bunny" Matthews III was an American cartoonist and writer from the Greater New Orleans Area. He is best known for his depictions of New Orleans characters and local dialect, especially Vic and Nat'ly Broussard.
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Wally Whitehurst
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Walter Richard Whitehurst is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played from 1989 to 1996 with the New York Mets, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Standing 6'3" and weighing 195 pounds, Whitehurst attended the University of New Orleans where he compiled a 37–15 record.
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Max Hardberger
- Occupations
- lawyernovelist
- Biography
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Florian Max Hardberger is an American adventurer, ship captain, aviator, ship recovery specialist, admiralty lawyer, and author of maritime fiction and nonfiction adventures.
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Fady Qaddoura
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Fady Qaddoura is an American politician from Indianapolis. A Palestinian American, and a member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to represent Senate District 30 in the Indiana Senate in the 2020 general election, becoming the first Arab Muslim lawmaker in the state's history. In the election, he defeated his Republican opponent, winning 52.5% of the vote.
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Jim Letten
- Occupations
- lawyermilitary officer
- Biography
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James B. Letten is an American attorney. A career prosecutor, Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 2012, he was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the country.
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Quincy Diggs
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Quincy Johan Diggs is an American-Austrian professional basketball player for Oberwart Gunners of the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga.
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Renée Gill Pratt
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 72)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Renée Gill Pratt is an American politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was also Director of the Center for Student Retention and Success in Southern University at New Orleans. On July 25, 2011, she was found guilty of racketeering. For this crime, she served a four-year sentence.
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Kathleen Alcalá
- Occupations
- writernovelistjournalistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a short-story collection, three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico, and a collection of essays. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Washington state and elsewhere, including Seattle University, the University of New Mexico and Richard Hugo House.
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Jay C. Zainey
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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Jay Christopher Zainey is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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Ruben Armiñana
- Biography
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Ruben Armiñana is a political scientist who served as the sixth president of Sonoma State University from 1992 to 2016. He is the first Cuban-American to head a campus in the California State University system.
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Patrick Scheuermann
- Born in
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United States - Biography
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Patrick Scheuermann is the former Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He was named to become the center's twelfth director on September 25, 2012, and served in the role until November 13, 2015. Scheuermann succeeded Robin Henderson, who had served as acting director for the preceding two months. Scheuermann served as the director of the John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi from March 2010 until his appointment to Marshall. Earlier in his NASA career, he served as legislative fellow to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
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Calvin A. Johnson Jr
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Calvin A. Johnson Jr. is an American saxophonist, bandleader, composer, producer, and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as a tenor and soprano saxophone player but also performs and records on alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and flute. He has worked with many of the biggest names in New Orleans music, including Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mystikal, Irvin Mayfield, Mannie Fresh, and others. Johnson is the nephew of New Orleans clarinetist Ralph Johnson, a longtime member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He began playing saxophone at the age of seven, and since 2008 has been playing with his own band, Calvin Johnson & Native Son.
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William D. Baumgartner
- Enrolled in the University of New Orleans
- Graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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William Dale Baumgartner was a United States Coast Guard rear admiral who served as the Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District. He was also the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the United States Coast Guard. In this capacity, he was the Coast Guard's senior legal advisor and is responsible for all aspects of the service's legal program.
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Enamul Huq
- Years
- 1938-.. (age 88)
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Enamul Huq served as the Inspector General of Police of Bangladesh Police, and a member of the Law Commission from 2004 to 2007.
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Shelley Puhak
- Years
- 1975-.. (age 51)
- Occupations
- university teacherpoetwriter
- Biography
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Shelley Puhak is an American poet and writer. She was Eichner Professor of Creative Writing at Notre Dame of Maryland University. She won the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Guinevere in Baltimore. She was a National Poetry Series winner for her poetry collection Harbinger She is also the author of The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World, a double biography.
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James D. Kirylo
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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James David Kirylo is professor of education at the University of South Carolina who teaches courses that examine concepts associated with critical pedagogy, curriculum theorizing, teacher leadership, diversity and literacy. Among other books, he is author of Teaching with Purpose: An Inquiry into the Who, Why, and How We Teach, A Turning Point in Teacher Education: A Time for Resistance, Reflection and Change, and Paulo Freire: The Man from Recife, which is one of the most comprehensive texts in English on the life and thought of Paulo Freire, significantly contributing to Freirean scholarship.
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Bin Ramke
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Lloyd Binford Ramke is an American poet and editor.
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Anaïs St. John
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Anaïs St. John is an American musician, musical educator, and dramatic performer from New Orleans. St. John has a bachelor's degree in Music from the Xavier University, and a master's degree from the University of New Orleans. She was originally a mezzo-soprano at the New Orleans Opera, but as a solo artist she has combined jazz, blues and R&B. Her music draws inspiration from artists like Irma Thomas, Germaine Bazzle, Eartha Kitt, and Lola Falana.
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Brenda Hatfield
- Occupations
- official
- Biography
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Brenda Ann Garibaldi Hatfield is an American woman who served as chief administrative officer of the City of New Orleans under Mayor Ray Nagin.
