Cathy Hughes

Cathy Hughes, born Catherine Elizabeth Woods in Omaha, Nebraska on April 22, 1947, is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. Ms. Hughes was born to Helen Jones Woods, a trombonist with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and William Alfred Woods, who was the first African-American to earn an accounting degree from Creighton University (a university which Cathy herself would later attend). The famil... more

Cathy Hughes, born Catherine Elizabeth Woods in Omaha, Nebraska on April 22, 1947, is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. Ms. Hughes was born to Helen Jones Woods, a trombonist with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and William Alfred Woods, who was the first African-American to earn an accounting degree from Creighton University (a university which Cathy herself would later attend). The family lived in the Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects while Hughes' father attended college. After working for KOWH, Hughes was offered a job as a lecturer at the School of Communications at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1975, she became general manager of the university's radio station, WHUR-FM. In 1979, Hughes founded Radio One, and with then-husband Dewey Hughes bought AM radio station WOL 1450 in Washington, D.C. After the previous employees had destroyed the facility, she faced financial difficulties and subsequently lost her home... less