Alumni Awards

Christy Brown'78

2021-22 Martin de Tours Recipient

Christian Brown, of the Class of 1978, is the recipient of the 2020 St. Martin’s Episcopal School’s Martin de Tours Award. Due to the pandemic and its resulting restrictions, the presentation of this award was delayed. Brown was the 25th recipient of the Martin de Tours Award. 

During Brown’s acceptance speech, he thanked teachers, administrators, students, and the alumni, past, present, and future. He expressed his gratitude for St. Martin’s by saying, “I  was lucky to be sent to this school that made community service a foundation of its education for life.”

Kelly Duncan ’72, the 2019 Martin de Tours award recipient, introduced Brown and said, “He may seem laid back, but Christy clearly is passionate about serving others and making our community a better place to live for all of its citizens.There is no St. Martin’s graduate more deserving of St. Martin’s highest alumni honor than Christy Brown.”

After graduating from St. Martin’s as a member of the 13-Year Club, Brown went on to earn his B.A. in history from Tulane University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He then continued on to graduate from Tulane University Law School.

Brown is the managing director of NOLA Holdings, LLC, a private equity investment firm which owns interests in numerous specialty and niche businesses. He is the chairman of the Board of Directors of McIlhenny Company, the 154-year-old maker of Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce.  Also, Brown is the treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of Avery Island, Inc., a family-owned land management company.

In the community, Brown serves as chairman of the Selley Foundation; the former inaugural chairman and a current board member of the Audubon Society Louisiana, and a member of the National Audubon Society’s Leadership Council; and a founder and the past chairman of the Rex organization’s Pro Bono Publico Foundation, which has provided more than $3.5 million in grants to charter schools, charter-management organizations, and other education-related initiatives. He is also a member of the Board of Visitors of St. Martin’s Episcopal School. Nationally, he serves on the board of trustees of the James Beard Foundation.

In the past, Brown has served as chairman of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, president of the Louisiana Museum Foundation, and chairman of the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation (WYES). He has served on the boards of Bureau of Governmental Research, Louisiana Children's Museum, Save Our Cemeteries, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, and NOCCA Institute (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts). He is a former member of the Women of the Storm Advisory Committee.

He has also received numerous accolades. Brown was recognized as one of the 2016 Young Leadership Council Role Models for his business and civic achievements. As a result of his service to the community, he was selected to serve as Rex, King of Carnival, in 2015.