As a child, Nagy was forced to flee from Hungary and arrived in Washington DC in 1957, which became his home.

[4] After retiring from the Foreign Service, Nagy served as Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University,[5] from which he graduated in 1972.

[7] Nagy is a retired career U.S. Foreign Service officer who followed through assignments as US Ambassador to Ethiopia and Guinea as well as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Cameroon and Togo.

[8] Nagy was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President Donald Trump on May 10, 2018.

[12] The 2014 Paris Book Festival awarded the winning prize in non-fiction to "Kiss Your Latte Goodbye: Managing Overseas Operations" which was co-authored by Nagy.