MC School of Business Honors Jim Coggin, April 21
Jim Coggin, MC School of Business 2009 Executive Excellence Award honoree
Coggin retired in May 2007 as president and chief administrative officer with Saks Incorporated after 36 years with the company. The Tupelo native will be saluted at the School of Business Honors Day luncheon at noon on that Tuesday in Anderson Hall. About 30 MC business students will also be honored for their academic achievements.
It's one of at least two major awards that Coggin is receiving in 2009. Later this year, he is due to be inducted into the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame.
A graduate of Mississippi State University, he received a master's in business administration from Mississippi College. Coggin is also a graduate of Harvard's Advanced Management Program.
Previous winners of the Executive Excellence Award include Regions Bank executive Ronnie Smith in 2008, and businessmen Randall Crenshaw in 2007 and Dan Grafton in 2006. All three men are graduates of MC's School of Business. Winners of the MC School of Business Executive Excellence Award are proven success stories in the business world, plus they serve as superb role models for MC students.
Following a tour of military duty in Vietnam, Coggin began his business career at the Mississippi Chemical Corporation and worked for more than four years with IBM as a marketing representative.
In 1971, Coggin joined McRae's. He held various positions at the department store that was acquired by Proffitt's, Inc. in 1994. That year, he was subsequently promoted to president and chief operating officer. Following the acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue in 1998, the company changed its name to Saks Incorporated.
Coggin is an active member of Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson and has served as chairman of its administrative board. In Mississippi's capital city, he's also served as chairman of the board of directors for United Way and chairman of the board for Junior Achievement.
The Mississippian recently joined the board of directors of Hospice Ministries, Inc. and has been active in Habitat for Humanity for many years. He's been active in other organizations, including the YMCA, Goodwill Industries and Jackson Preparatory School.
Jim and his wife, Pat, are the parents of a son, Jim, Jr. and a daughter, Allison, and have two grandchildren, James and Caroline.
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