Alan Louis Sagner was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman and philanthropist who served as New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation, as Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and as Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
26 Facts About Alan Sagner
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Alan Sagner is a graduate of Forest Park High School, where he was two years behind future Vice President Spiro Agnew.
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Alan Sagner was married to Ruth Levin, the daughter of New Jersey real estate developer Maurice Levin, on October 21,1945.
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Alan Sagner later developed properties in Morris County and in Pennsylvania.
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Alan Sagner became active in the community as President of the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Board of Trustees; Vice President of Health and Hospitals Council of Metropolitan New Jersey; and as a Trustee of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry.
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Alan Sagner served as New Jersey Chairman of the Regional Plan Association from 1976 to 1977.
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Alan Sagner became active in politics in 1960 on behalf of former Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, who was mounting a third bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
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Alan Sagner attended the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles as a Stevenson volunteer.
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Alan Sagner became involved in Democrats for Good Government, a group seeking to reform the Democratic Party in Essex County, New Jersey, in opposition to the Democratic County Chairman, Dennis F Carey.
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Alan Sagner was part of the successful campaign of Richard J Hughes for Governor of New Jersey, and served as New Jersey co-chairman of Citizens for Humphrey-Muskie in 1968.
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In 1973, Alan Sagner became the finance chairman for Brendan Byrne, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey.
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Alan Sagner was a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Walter Mondale.
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Alan Sagner was a trustee of the Democratic National Committee in from 1988 to 1992, and served as chairman of the New Jersey Business Council for Clinton-Gore in 1992.
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Alan Sagner was a founder of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in 1960.
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On January 3,1975, Governor-elect Brendan Byrne appointed Alan Sagner to serve in his cabinet as the New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation.
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Alan Sagner told investigators looking into corruption allegations that he turned Nero down.
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Alan Sagner resigned as Commissioner of Transportation in June 1977 to become the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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Alan Sagner's appointment marked the resolution of a conflict between Byrne and New York Governor Hugh Carey over control of the bi-state transportation agency.
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Alan Sagner remained as Chairman after Republican Thomas Kean was elected Governor in 1981.
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Alan Sagner stepped down in 1985 when Kean named Philip Kaltenbacher as Port Authority Chairman.
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When Kean ran for re-election in 1985, Alan Sagner backed Democrat Peter Shapiro, who had begun his political career as an aide at the state Department of Transportation in 1974.
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President Bill Clinton nominated Alan Sagner to serve on the Board of Director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on March 8,1994.
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Alan Sagner served as Chairman of the CPB from 1996 to 1997.
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Alan Sagner was married to Ruth Levin Alan Sagner, a social worker, from 1945 until her death on January 27,1995.
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Alan Sagner served as a trustee of The Century Foundation.
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Alan Sagner died at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on January 3,2018.