THE MAGAZINE OF TULANE UNIVERSITY / DECEMBER 2019

PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO RAPT AUDIENCE Students listen intently during the inaugural Presidential Speaker Series featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in McAlister Auditorium on Friday, Oct. . (See story on page .) PHOTO BY KATHY ANDERSON 1 Contents DECEMBER  / VOL  / NO  DEPARTMENTS

3 Letters 4 In Brief 16 UP FIRST MAIN FEATURE 8 Studio in the Woods RIPPLE 9 Curator of Jazz, Startup Activity EFFECT Tulane’s †‡.ˆ‰ billion impact 10 Athletics on Louisiana’s economy and 11 Louisiana Writer, community includes jobs, How Tweet it Is discoveries, goodwill and more, a new study Šnds. 12 New Orleans Good eating in the new Commons. 13 Opinion Erica Washington is president of the Tulane Alumni Association for 2019-20. 14 Speaker Series Justice Sonia Sotomayor dispenses wisdom.   TURNING GREEN IMPACT POINT Liz Davey, director of the WAVEMAKERS Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, O­ce of Sustainability, 36 Audacious Giving vice president for research, has worked closely is leading Tulane toward with students and a new era of impactful administrators for ‚ƒ TULANIANS research that makes years on recycling e„orts, 39 Class Notes lives better. energy e­ciency and 40 Impression sustainable construction. 43 Impression 44 Impression 46 Farewell  READING IS 47 Tribute FUN ✩ ✩ ✩ e New Orleans Book NEW WEBSITE EXTRA CONTENT VIEWPOINT Festival, poised to be a Visit tulaniantulaneedu 48 President’s Letter premiere national literary event, welcomes everyone to campus in March to meet and greet famous authors and celebrate Follow and post using #TulaneImpact the joy of literature.

2 ulanian agazine  2019 Yeah, You Write

From the Editor

EDITOR Mary Ann Travis §e Impact We Make is the theme of this Tulanian as our stories address the CREATIVE DIRECTOR university’s meaning, purpose and e¦ect in the wider community. In “Ripple E¦ect,” Melinda Whatley Viles we report on the impact that Tulane has on the local economy and on the state of EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Louisiana. “To improve the life of people,” is the purpose of research, says Giovanni Faith Dawson Piedimonte, the new vice president for research. In “Turning Point,” he looks forward CONTRIBUTORS Marianna Barry to impactful, collaborative breakthroughs that will do just that. In “Green Impact,” Keith Brannon we see how Liz Davey has helped shape the sustainability e¦orts at Tulane for two Barri Bronston Jasmine Davidson decades. And in “Reading Is Fun,” we anticipate the exciting New Orleans Book Jill Dorje Darren Hayes Festival that will bring authors and book lovers of all ages to campus in March. Angus Lind Alicia Serrano Mike Strecker To the Editor SENIOR UNIVERSITY [Email letters to [email protected]] PHOTOGRAPHER Paula Burch-Celentano A Long Way Preparing Global Citizens GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Marian Herbert-Bruno It was a pleasure to read the article “Pio- I read the September issue of Tulanian Kim Rainey neers on Campus” [Tulanian, September (“Global State of Mind”) with keen ‹ ŒŽ]. … I was the second black basketball PRESIDENT OF interest and with pride in my alma mater. TULANE UNIVERSITY player to play for Tulane. I thought my … True confession: I used to “scan and Michael A. Fitts experience could be uplifting for not only toss” and now I read pretty much cover SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT the student-athletes but for the students to cover! FOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND in general. Tulane has come a long way in INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS Robert M. “Rick” Smith, A&S ’, B ’ Richard Matasar being inclusive for all students. Atlanta VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY David Renfroe, UC ’ COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING Long Beach, California Celebrating Diversity Libby Eckhardt Highest Ranking While my time at Tulane made huge Tulanian ISSN  is published quarterly impressions on me, I envy current by the Tulane University Office of Communications and Marketing€ ‚ McAlister Drive€ Drawer € New As a former submariner commissioned students who get that global aspect as Orleans€ La‡ ˆ‰Š‹Œ‡ Business and Editorial Offices’ ‰‰ Broadway€ Suite‡ € New Orleans€ through Tulane’s NROTC Unit in ŒŽ›œ part of their Tulane experience. I’ve been La‡ ˆ‰Š‹‚Œ‚‡ Send editorial and subscription while then Midshipman žth Class David privileged to experience diversity in my correspondence to Tulane University Office of Communications and Marketing€ ‚ McAlister Berger was a freshman, I would like to personal and professional life, including Drive€ Drawer € New Orleans€ La‡ ˆ‰Š‹Œ or point out a large (to the military) error in my MBA at another university where email tulanemag@tulane‡edu‡ Periodicals postage is paid at New Orleans€ La‡ ˆ‰‚‹ and Tulanian’s Gen. Berger proŸle [Septem- international students were nearly „ † of additional mailing offices‡ ber ‹ ŒŽ]. Your article introduces the the class. Kudos to Tulane to … celebrate Opinions expressed in Tulanian are not necessarily those of Tulane representatives and general as a LT GEN, which signiŸes a global diversity. do not necessarily reflect university policies‡ £ag o¤cer with three stars and, though Material may be reprinted only with permission‡ Stephanie Scroger Yoo, B ’ Tulane University is an affirmative action/equal a very senior rank, is not what Gen. Macedon, New York opportunity institution‡ Berger is and does not match the proŸle POSTMASTER picture you used. … Gen. Berger is the Proud to be a Tulanian Send address changes to’ Commandant of the Marine Corps and Tulanian magazine€ Tulane Office of University I enjoyed very much reading the nice its leader, and as such, is a member of the Communications and Marketing€ piece about “Pioneers on Campus” ‚ McAlister Drive€ Drawer € Joint Chiefs of Sta¦. By my recollection New Orleans€ LA ˆ‰Š‹Œ‡ (September ‹ ŒŽ). As a native Costa he is the highest ranking member of Rican and as a biologist, I feel very proud Tulanian magazine is online at any branch of the military ever to have tulanian.tulane.edu to be in the company of fellow Tulanians graduated from Tulane University. such as Luis Guillermo Solís and Deidre Marcus Urioste, A&S ’
D. Labat. Philadelphia Maria Elena Amador, G ’, ’
 New Orleans Editor’s Note: We regret this error. §e Change of Command ceremony for Gen. Berger was July ŒŒ, ‹ ŒŽ, and we did not change his rank before going to press.

3 In Brief

COMMENCEMENT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RESEARCH  CEREMONY NEUROSCIENCE CENTER LEAD IN TOP SOIL The 2020 Commencement ceremony, Tulane School of Medicine opened the Howard Mielke, pharmacology research scheduled for May 16, will be held in Clinical Neuroscience Research Center, a professor at the School of Medicine, Yulman Stadium for the first time in new center aimed at improving care for found that long-term changes in soil Tulane history. Tulane commencements patients with neurological diseases. Dr. lead levels in New Orleans have a are among the country’s most memorable Gregory Bix is the center’s director, and corresponding impact on blood levels in celebrations of academic achievement, Dr. Xiaoying Wang is the center’s program children. Mielke’s research team collected featuring renowned speakers and director of brain injury and research. Bix’s rounds of soil samplings in the city over honorary degree recipients such as the goal is to build on the university’s existing several years and compared them to Dalai Lama, Tim Cook and Helen Mirren. stroke research and expand efforts in children’s blood level data, which revealed The university plans to bring many of the traumatic brain injury, aging and dementia. decreasing lead in topsoil played a key beloved commencement traditions to the tulane.it/neuroscience-research-center factor in the children’s declining blood ceremony at Yulman. This year’s speaker lead levels. has not been announced yet. tulane.it/lead-exposure tulane.it/2020-commencement-venue MAKERSPACE “MAKE ” TEAM A group of Tulanians competed in ARCHITECTURE LAW the APT/PBS reality show “Make 48,” NEW DESIGN MAJOR RIGHT TO PRIVACY a MakerSpace-inspired show in which Tulane’s School of Architecture has Viking Press, an imprint of Penguin student teams have 48 hours to plan, launched a new Bachelor of Arts in Design. Random House, will publish a book by prototype and pitch a new commercial It offers a broad design education inclusive Amy Gajda, Tulane law professor, called product idea to a panel of judges. The of multiple modes of practice and an The Secret History of the Right to Privacy. team, called The Big Easy, consisted of understanding of the fundamental linkages The book, set to publish in 2021, examines Kyra Rubinstein, a junior majoring in between design, society and culture. privacy’s path in the United States, its biomedical engineering, Matthew Nice, tulane.it/new-architecture-major threats to press freedoms and what a biomedical engineering graduate, privacy reveals about current concerns Luke Artzt, an engineering physics

in a digital age. graduate, and Jesse Williams, a School ATHLETICS/MEDICINE tulane.it/right-to-privacy-book of Architecture graduate. PACT CHAMPIONSHIP YEAR tulane.it/make-48-team The Tulane Professional Athlete Care Team had its most successful year in 2018-19, completing more than 600 A R T patient screenings, including a record NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE 139 former players at Super Bowl LIII Newcomb Art Museum’s latest show NOT SUPPOSED 2 in Atlanta. Tulane’s School of Medicine BE HERE by visual artist Brandan “BMike” Odums opens began providing medical services to Jan. 18, 2020. It is the first solo exhibition for Odums former professional athletes in 2013. In in a museum setting. The display, which features brand 2015, a partnership with the NFL Player new site-specific installations, as well as past work, is Care Foundation Healthy Body and Mind part retrospective and part futurescape. Audiences will Screening program and PACT was formed. be able to envision and engage with the bold histories tulane.it/pact-championship-year — and futures — that Odums’ work encapsulates. tulane.it/not-supposed-to-be-here (Photo by Jeremy Tauriac, courtesy Studio Be)

4 ulanian agazine  2019 QUOTED TULANE RISES “We’re still standing on decisions that were IN RANKINGS made two or three As the university continues to grow and generations ago.” MARK DAVIS, director of the Tulane interest is at all-time high, national rank- Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy and director of the ByWater ings improve. Institute, said in Time regarding Louisiana’s methods of trying to Tulane rose to No.  in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, released control the Mississippi River. in the fall. e publication ranked Tulane No.  in Service Learning, No.
 for Best tulane.it/Mark-Davis-time College for Veterans, No.  on its list of Most Innovative Schools, and ranked the university’s undergraduate business program No. . Tulane also ranked high in the  Princeton Review rankings as the No.
university for Community Service, No. ATHLETICS  in the Students Love ese Colleges category; No.  in College City Gets High  HALL OF FAME CLASS Marks; No.  for Happiest Students; No. † for Best Quality of Life; No. ˆ for Best- Tulane University Athletics inducted Run Colleges and No.
 among Impact Schools. At this year’s State of the University, five new honorees into the 2019 Hall of Tulane President Mike Fitts referenced some of the rankings and stated the university Fame Class. Those is transforming. “We are attracting the type of innovative, world-renowned academic inducted were the leaders that will guide us through the next chapter of the Tulane story. And the world baseball program’s is taking notice,” he said. all-time saves leader tulane.it/rankings-2019 Daniel Latham; two- time all-American women’s golfer Students study and socialize in the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex of the A. B. Freeman School of Maribel Lopez Porras; all-American Business. Business school programs are among the highly ranked programs of the university. football player Ed Mikkelsen; two-time all- conference women’s basketball star Gwen Slaughter; and longtime Tulane team physician Greg Stewart. The Billy Slatten Award was presented to Times-Picayune and States-Item columnist Angus Lind. tulane.it/2019-hall-of-fame

RESEARCH WILLOW RESIDENCES RENAMED FOR TRAILBLAZERS The Décou-Labat Residences, formerly Willow Residences, were dedicated on Nov. 16 on the uptown campus. The residences are named in honor of Deidre Dumas Labat (NC ’66, G ’69) and Reynold T. Décou (A&S ’67, A&S ’79), the first African American undergraduates to earn degrees from Newcomb and Tulane, respectively. (See “Pioneers on Campus,” Tulanian, September 2019.) The naming of the residences is part of the Tulane Trailblazers initiative. tulane.it/tulane-trailblazers

Visit tulaniantulaneedu for additional content

5 IN BRIEF

RESEARCH QUOTED MAYA CIVILIZATION “What’s happening now Francisco Estrada-Belli, a research assistant professor in the Middle is that the Chinese American Research Institute at Tulane, was part of a team of researchers who system is changing the uncovered evidence that suggests nature of the internet.” extreme and violent warfare, along with a massive fire, led to the destruction of WALTER ISAACSON, history professor the Maya city Witzna nearly 1,500 years at Tulane, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” ago, in what is now northern Guatemala. regarding the relationship between the Chinese government and CEOs tulane.edu/maya-research-2019 of American businesses like Apple and Facebook.

RESEARCH tulane.it/Walter-Isaacson-cnbc IMMUNE SYSTEMS ACADEMICS A team of Tulane researchers — TAYLOR CENTER James McLachlan, associate professor TH ANNIVERSARY of microbiology and immunology, John McLachlan, Weatherhead Professor of The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social ATHLETICS Pharmacology, and Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, Innovation and Design Thinking Price-Goldsmith Professor of Nutrition celebrated its five-year anniversary HOW DO WE — will study how sex differences shape in November. The center aims to disparate immune responses in men support students as they identify their and women. changemaking path through programs KNOW GREEN in teaching, research and practices of tulane.it/immune-systems design thinking, social entrepreneurship WAV E FOOTBALL and social innovation. The center was founded in 2014 with a $15 million RESEARCH contribution from Taylor and the IS ON THE RISE? CANNIBALISTIC Patrick F. Taylor Foundation. CANCER CELLS tulane.it/taylor-center-5th-anniversary Last year, it took the entire season of  games to Researchers from Tulane School of become bowl eligible. is year, Tulane clinched bowl Medicine authored a study in the Journal eligibility with a Nov.  homecoming victory against of Cell Biology that suggests some cancer IN THE NEWS Tulsa — it’s ninth game of the season. cells survive chemotherapy by eating NOLA CHARTER SCHOOLS “To be bowl eligible with three games left just their neighboring tumor cells. The study shows where we are heading,” quarterback Justin suggests the act of cannibalism provides Douglas Harris, director of the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans and McMillan said after the game. “We are trying to build the treated cancer cells with energy to a program here.” stay alive and initiate tumor relapse after chair of the Department of Economics It is the ƒrst time since „„ –„‡ that the Wave is the course of treatment is complete. at Tulane, discussed on NPR his research on failing charter schools closing in New bowl eligible in consecutive seasons and the ƒrst time tulane.it/cannibalistic-cancer-cells Orleans. “If you’re doing [closures and since „ „–‡ˆ that Tulane is likely to play in a bowl in takeovers] well, then those opening consecutive seasons. schools are better than the ones that “Consistently playing in bowl games and competing ARCHIVES you’re closing and taking over. That’s GOING DIGITAL for conference titles is the new standard for Tulane going to lead to improvement in the football,” said Troy Dannen, athletics director. “Coach The Newcomb Archives and the Nadine city — and it did.” Fritz, his staŽ and our student-athletes have raised the Robbert Vorhoff Collection of the tulane.it/nola-charter-schools bar for excellence for which our program is measured, Newcomb Institute are now accessible through a Digital Repository online. In and we could not be more proud of their eŽorts.” tulane.it/green-wave-bowl-eligible-2019 addition, the Newcomb Art Museum will inventory and digitize its permanent collections with a Collection Stewardship Above: Green Wave quarterback Justin McMillan leads the Tulane grant from the Institute of Museum and football team to a 38-26 Homecoming win over Tulsa on Nov. 1. Library Services Museums for America. Visit tulaniantulaneedu McMillan completed 12 of his 16 passes for 184 yards. tulane.it/new-digital-archives for additional content

6 ulanian agazine  2019 “... the stereotype is that the environment is about tree For more stories hugging or saving exotic birds.” about Tulane, THOMAS LAVEIST, dean of Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, in Bloomberg subscribe to Environment on why he thinks black politicians haven’t focused much on climate change. tulane.it/Thomas-Laveist-bloomberg Tulane Today tulane.it/tulane-today

CULTURE BEARERS  YEARS OF INEQUALITY Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine observed the 400-year CULTURE BEARERS anniversary of the beginning of slavery LITERARY HISTORY in America and its lasting impact on T.R. Johnson, professor of English at inequalities in communities with a daylong Tulane, is editor of New Orleans: A event called “400 Years of Inequality: Literary History (Cambridge University Changing the Narrative.” The School of Press, 2019), which provides Public Health plans to hold additional detailed discussions on the events as part of the series throughout most significant writing the academic year. the city of New Orleans tulane.it/400-years-of-inequality has inspired. In a video on the publisher’s website, he mentions several major CULTURE BEARERS authors like Joan Didion, F. AUTHENTIC NEW ORLEANS Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and Matt Sakakeeny, associate professor Kate Chopin who spent time in the city. of music at Tulane, is co-editor of “I think people come in and spend a few Remaking New Orleans: months or even a few years and put Beyond Exceptionalism their ear to the neighborhood grapevine, and Authenticity (Duke absorbing the folklore and the phantasms, University Press, 2019). In an and tracing the old faultlines to see what can be drawn from this. And the answer is opinion piece Sakakeeny co- ON CAMPUS usually quite a lot.” authored in The Advocate, FITTS’ FLAG he writes about the book tulane.it/literary-history stating, “… in celebrating Students August Janow (left) and Rohan Goswami (right) the vibrancy of our traditions, we fail to present a flag to President Fitts with his likeness on it. Janow and Goswami asked Fitts to sign the flag. The flag understand that they’re a tremendous QUOTED driver of profit for those who can was designed by another student, Yara Hantash. capitalize on them.” tulane.it/fitts-flag “I remember Katrina, tulane.it/authentic-new-orleans we did not have enough psychiatrists COMMUNITY and people to provide OUTREACH Tulane students volunteered at more than 20 local organizations for mental health care.” this year’s Outreach. The annual event is Tulane’s largest and oldest DR. ANAND IRIMPEN, professor of community service event and gives students, along with staff, the medicine at Tulane, said in an American opportunity to positively impact New Orleans. Heart Association News article about tulane.it/outreach-2019 hurricane preparedness and the toll a hurricane can have on one’s health. tulane.it/Anand-Irimpen-aha-news

7 Beyond the Traditional Campus A Studio in the Woods, a program of Tulane’s ByWater Institute, is located on the Mississippi River bank in a bottomland hardwood forest within the city limits of New Orleans. The lush, precious and endangered woods are one of the few remaining tracts of forest in the area. A Studio in the Woods is dedicated to preserving the forest and offers interrelated programming that includes artistic and scholarly residencies, forest restoration and science-inspired art education.

8 ulanian agazine  2019 RESEARCH BREAKING STARTUP ACTIVITY

BY KEITH BRANNON

ulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business has released the results of the ’ŽŒ– Greater TNew Orleans Startup Report, the ›rst comprehensive overview of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Working with ’’ economic develop- ment groups and community organiza- tions, Freeman’s Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation surveyed more than ’ŽŽ local startup-stage compa- nies for the ŸŽ-page report, which aims to become the benchmark for tracking entrepreneurial activity in New Orleans. Findings include: • e majority (Ÿ¤¥) of the city’s startups are small businesses, while §¤¥ are early CURATOR OF JAZZ stage technology companies and §§¥ describe themselves as high-growth BY JASMINE DAVIDSON startups. • Most are lean — almost “¤¥ have ’ Melissa A. Weber, also known as DJ Soul Sister, has been named curator of the Hogan or fewer employees and Œ˜¥ have §–“ Jazz Archive, the leading research center for the study of New Orleans jazz and related employees; on the other end of the musical genres. e archive is part of the Special Collections division of the Howard-Til- spectrum Œ.–¥ have ŒŽŽ-plus employees ton Memorial Library. Weber was previously program manager of the Newcomb-Tulane and Œ.–¥ have “Ž–––. College Oƒce of Academic Programs. • Access to investment and other funding “I am beyond thrilled to lead the next exciting phase in the Hogan Jazz Archive’s sources is scarce. Most area founders history,” said Weber. have relied on bootstrapping (rein- Weber, a Tulane musicology master’s student, has presented papers at numerous vested revenue), personal savings, academic conferences, including the International Association for the Study of Popular friends and family, and credit card debt Music-U.S. Annual Conference, the Museum of Pop Culture Conference and the to ›nance their operations. National Council for Black Studies. • Health care is the top industry, rep- Weber juggled a wide range of responsibilities during her nearly ŒŽ years with resenting Œ—¥ of the region’s startups, Newcomb-Tulane College, from managing the undergraduate research grant-funding followed by food and beverage (ŒŽ¥), program to producing the annual Lagniappe Series concert featuring renowned jazz hospitality (ŒŽ¥), media (ŒŽ¥), mar- musician Ellis Marsalis. keting (˜¥) and real estate (˜¥). MELISSA In her spare time, Weber is known as one of the longest-running live A‡ WEBER‰ • While health care is the largest startup DJ artists in her native New Orleans. She hosts a nearly ’“-year-old radio industry, energy and ›nance are project- aka DJ Soul Sister, sits show called “Soul Power” on WWOZ-FM, on which she spins vinyl from among the stacks of ing the highest revenue growth and have her expansive collection of Œ–—Žs and ’˜Žs rare groove funk, soul and R&B. carefully preserved also raised signi›cant investment capital. She also gives talks and presents ›lm screenings throughout the city. material in the Hogan Jazz Archive. View the report here: As curator of the jazz archive, Weber’s responsibilities include devel- tulane.it/startup-activity oping partnerships across Tulane and the broader research community, securing new historical pieces to increase the archive’s holdings, instructing students on how to use the archive to ›nd primary sources, and supporting division outreach eœorts Since 2006, Tulanians by contributing to exhibitions and other programming. have founded at least “I would love to see the entire story of New Orleans music come up to the present, so that we can continue that story of music and culture. Because the story has not ended. 355 companies, a third It has continued, and it is happening right now.” of which are located in the New Orleans area.

9 UP FIRST ATHLETICS

that his team is worth lling the seats A WINNING CULTURE for at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. BY BARRI BRONSTON “A losing culture is tough to change,” Hunter conceded. “And that’s the thing you have to change — the on Hunter was happy in He didn’t have to think about New culture. You have to change how you Atlanta. He and his wife, Amy, Orleans or Tulane. “When it was pre - walk, how you talk. It starts with the had a brand-new grandchild, sented to me, I said, ‘I’m doing it.’” culture, and it starts with me.” R and the couple had just com- From the time he arrived on campus, His expectations for his team — pleted their retirement home. Hunter had with a welcome that included beignets and and himself — are lofty and, in some built the perpetual losing Georgia State a second line, Hunter hasn’t looked back. ways, unimaginable. A winning season Panthers into a winning basketball pro- In just a few months, he has become a in his rst year, followed by a trip to gram and during his eight-year tenure true New Orleanian, eating oysters, riding March Madness, are among the things directed it to six postseason appearances, the streetcar and gearing up for Mardi on his to-do list. including three trips to the NCAA’s Gras. He has even developed relationships “If I nish .Š‹‹, you’re going to have March Madness. with the Saints and the Pelicans, including to put me an an insane asylum,” he said, e thought of leaving never entered rookie phenom Zion Williamson. only half joking. his mind — that is, until Tulane came But the fun takes a back seat to the “We want to get to the NCAA calling. work he is doing on the Tulane basket- tournament ever year. When you’re try- “It was going to take something special ball court. His goal when he arrived was ing to build a culture, you have to have for us to leave,” Hunter said. “And I knew to turn the Green Wave into a winning extremely high standards, and I won’t let if I had to think about it, I wasn’t going basketball program and convincing the anyone around me change that.” to do it.” Tulane and New Orleans communities His message to would-be fans: “Give us one chance. Come and watch my team play. I promise our kids will play hard and you’ll feel the energy in the arena.”

Ron Hunter, the new Green Wave men’s basketball coach, invites fans to experience the energy of the team this season.

10 ulanian agazine  2019 RESEARCH HOW TWEET IT IS

The Twitterverse reacts to happenings and news about Tulane.

“Wow! @Tulane & @TUFitts establish a 4 year full ride scholarship for a student interested in public service in Sotomayor's honor.” Mirya Holman @profmirya

“Everyone needs someone in their corner and for more than 30 years, Angus Lind always had our back. We can’t wait to welcome you as a member of our Athletics His book Bourbon Street: A History, was Hall of Fame!” LOUISIANA declared by the New York Review of Books as “absorbing ... persuasive … gleefully sub- @TulaneAthletics #RollWave WRITER versive. ere may be no one better quali”ed to write such a history than Campanella.” “Women are doing great BY BARRI BRONSTON A native of Brooklyn, New York, Cam- panella is the only two-time winner of the things at my alma mater! Tulane geography professor Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities @Tulane researcher Richard Campanella, author of Book of the Year Award. He has also won receives grant to improve the Louisiana Literary Award, the Wil- 11 books on the geography, his- diagnostic tools for liams Prize, the Malcolm Heard Award congenital Chagas disease. tory, architecture and culture of for Excellence in Teaching, the Hannah Congratulations Dr. Louisiana, is the recipient of the Arendt Prize for Public Scholarship and the Tulane Honors Professor of the Year. [Claudia] Herrera!” 2019 Louisiana Writer Award. In ŒŽ›‘, the Government of France named Lisa Rice @LisaDTRice e award is presented annually Campanella as Chevalier dans l’Ordre des by the Louisiana Center for the Palmes Académiques. Book of the State Library of Campanella’s next book, e West Bank “Proud to see my second family of Greater New Orleans: A Historical Geog- being honored in this way. Louisiana. raphy, will be released by Louisiana State Mr. Martin was an amazing University Press in ŒŽŒŽ. Campanella was presented the award in guy who deserves this honor, November at the Louisiana Book Festival “The historical geography and it’s been my pleasure to at the State Capitol in recognition of his know him and his family for the outstanding contribution to documenting of New Orleans and past 30 years. Roll Wave!” Louisiana’s history, culture and people. Louisiana is the story Campanella’s works includes Bienville’s August Martin @creativbalance, Dilemma: A Historical Geography of New of millions of people on the announcement of scholarships named for the late Stephen A. Martin (A&S ’68, B ’73). Orleans, described by the New York Review creating cityscapes Martin became the first African American of Books as the “single best history of the and landscapes over to play varsity sports in the Southeastern city … masterful.” He is also the author of hundreds of years. ” Conference when he played on the Green Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Wave baseball team in 1965. A certified public Before the Storm (University of Louisiana RICHARD CAMPANELLA, senior professor accountant, Martin returned to Tulane as the Press, ŒŽŽ‘). of practice in the School of Architecture internal auditor in the 1990s and later was the chief financial officer for Tuskegee University.

11 UP FIRST NEW ORLEANS

GOOD EATING IN THE NEW COMMONS

BY ANGUS LIND, A&S ’66 The astonishing options for healthy dining in The Commons match up to the spectacular architectural ambience of the new place to hang out on campus.

s I walked through Tulane’s spectacular, a Cuban sandwich (¡), a balsamic Portobello mushroom angular and eye-popping new state-of-the- () and (Yikes!) French fries (“Ž). I was relieved to see art  million dining hall, a couple thoughts something not on many healthy diet plans. ­ere was also A crossed my mind. a “Simmered” station, where there were soup options: I wish a couple of my college buddies could have made chicken corn chowder (ŽŽ), vegetable split pea soup () the tour with me, just to witness their mouths agape and and three bean chili (Ž). ­e food choices vary from day startled reactions to the ,-square-foot building, to day and there are gluten-free, allergy-free and vegan considering what dining was like in the Mesozoic Era options and an incredible salad bar. when we were at Tulane. Also a wood-€red pizza oven. I’m thinking our house ­e €rst thing that caught my eye when I entered cook once tried her hand at pizza and it must have been An observer of New this immense house of glass overlooking the fabulous cooked in a petri€ed pizza oven. Not one of my friends Orleans and the Tulane campus, Angus Lind is a oak trees and quadrangle across from Dixon Hall were recalled a single salad at any time. But we did have red former Times-Picayune and the seemingly never-ending food stations: the “Carved” beans and rice and sausage, hamburgers, spaghetti and States-Item columnist. This station on this day featured Korean BBQ shredded pork meatballs and industrial-sized cans of green beans. Our year, he was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of (Calories Ž) and Jasmine rice (Calories Ž“). ­ere was housemother was a devout Catholic so there was always Fame and received the Billy also Asian vegetable stir fry (Calories •), Hoisin sauce fried shrimp, €sh and gumbo on Fridays. Hot dogs and Slatten Award. (Calories ) and Asian slaw (Calories –). chili. All kinds of po-boys and chips. Fried chicken, Being a local student at Tulane, I had a lot of food corned beef hash and the mysterious “Salisbury steak” options. I could mooch a meal from my aunt. I could eat at were also available. Bru— Commons or Der Rathskeller. I could eat o— campus, A couple of servers at ­e Commons told me the maybe at Eddie Price’s, the forerunner of ­e Boot. Or the students were “wild about it.” venerable Frostop, still dependable across Claiborne Avenue It’s a very cool place to people watch, hang out, converse from the baseball and football stadiums. ­ere was also the or the always present heads-down smartphone routine. Rendon Inn, Camellia Grill, Phillips Pizza and further Outside there was a classic New Orleans thunderstorm down the food chain, Royal Castle. going on. Typical of the complimentary comments was Ultimately, I signed up for my fraternity’s food plan. this thumbs-up: “It’s signi€cantly better, leaps and bounds Rest assured, no calories were listed. Or counted. Or above Bru— Commons for both scenery and food,” said discussed. More on that to come. €nance major Luca Busalacchi, a Hahnville High gradu- ­e next food station I perused was called “Hearth” ate. He and two friends were still hanging out – minutes and it featured grilled salmon (Calories “), and South- after they €nished lunch, sans umbrellas. “And it’s a great ern-style green beans (•). ­e “Grilled” station advertised place to watch a rainstorm.”

12 ulanian agazine  2019 PHOTO BY RACHEL HUNTER OPINION

hile I was able to volunteer e three pillars of the Tulane Alumni WHY I with my sorority in Baton Association’s mission statement are to con- Rouge to assist with those nect alumni, foster loyalty to the university, VOLUNTEER W who were a ected, I felt and enhance the lifelong Tulane experience. that the real work to be done was in New My personal connections started with my FOR TULANE Orleans. classroom experience and were enhanced After completing my undergraduate through connections made through my BY ERICA WASHINGTON, PHTM ’09 degree, I researched Tulane and admired classmates and the larger Tulane commu- its history as an institution that sought to nity. e transition to working in applied Tulane’s synonymity with New improve health outcomes in New Orleans. epidemiology was made seamless by Tulane Orleans is what drew me to the Public health felt like the niche for me, alumni who hired me and sta who stayed university. Hurricane Katrina and thanks to erese Carter and other connected with me through my professional overwhelmed the Gulf region when welcoming sta at the School of Public development and beyond. I was an undergraduate senior at Health and Tropical Medicine, I found a My Tulane experience started from LSU in Baton Rouge. Although I was home in the Department of Epidemiology. the moment I set foot on the downtown not directly affected by the storm, School of Public Health epidemiol- campus and has been shaped through my I saw the struggles that many of ogy professors truly brought public health Š‹ years after graduation. While our Tula- my friends and classmates endured action and innovation to our classrooms. nian stories may be di erent in origin, we as they sought to rebuild their My adviser, Jeanette Gustat, mobilized our are forever connected through our identity: homes with their families in a time survey methods class to conduct sampling an identity that speaks to the devotion we of pedestrian safety in order to describe have to the university and carrying our of immense uncertainty that would how walkable the city’s busy urban streets alma mater’s spirit forth faithfully. forever reshape their lives. are. Additionally, Patti Kissinger and Emily Harville utilized students to look Erica Washington is president of the Tulane at migrant worker health and maternal Alumni Association for - . She’s served and child health, respectively. In addition in other TAA volunteer positions, including to epidemiology courses, I was able to par- president-elect, vice president and co-chair ticipate in a life-changing trip to China to of the student outreach committee, since . study health systems management wherein Her professional job is with the Louisiana rural, migrant and urban health concepts Department of Health as program coordina- were taught. tor for healthcare-associated infections and antibiotic resistance.

13 UP FIRST

Conversation with the President JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR DISPENSES WISDOM

BY MARY ANN TRAVIS

ustice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States left the stage at McAlister Audi- torium on Tulane’s uptown campus Friday evening, Oct. , to walk among the Jmore than , ­ mainly students and fac- ulty in the audience as she took questions, shook hands and gave hugs. When asked by a student, what gives you hope? Sotomayor answered simply, “My hope is you.” Sotomayor was the inaugural guest for Tulane President Mike Fitts’ Presidential Speaker Series, which he established “to invite inspirational leaders of our time to share their knowledge and life experiences with our community.” The question-and-answer session began with President Fitts, a former Yale “What I have learned is that society Law school classmate of Sotomayor’s, ask- “This is a seminar still treats people who are di‹erent with ing about her new illustrated children’s in what it means both suspicion and with a sense of dis- book, Just Ask! Be Dierent, Be Brave, Be trust,” Sotomayor said. “How much we You, which is about  young people who to be a great don’t know about each other.” might be perceived as “di‹erent” because human being.” Fitts asked about Sotomayor’s role they have Tourette’s Syndrome or are in a models. Her mother and grandmother, wheelchair or, like Sotomayor herself, are MIKE FITTS, she answered. diabetic. Sotomayor said she’s wanted to Tulane President “And I tell people that what every child write such a book for ­ years. who succeeds in life needs is someone who has con‘dence in them and actually loves them and believes in them. Someone who a’rms that they’re special.”

14 ulanian agazine  2019 SPEAKER SERIES

“If you don’t like something that is happening out there, get up and change it.”

SONIA SOTOMAYOR, Importance of Supreme Court Justice Friendship “What should universities do to support students from different backgrounds?” asked Fitts. “Teach them how to study, budget time, write papers and master basic life skills,” Sotomayor replied. But also teach them how to make friends. Her Œrst judicial appointment was as a In her  memoir My Beloved World, federal judge on the U.S. District Court, Sotomayor wrote, “With every friend I’ve Southern District of New York, in ••. known, in every situation I’ve encountered, From her years on the bench she said I have found something to learn.” she wanted the audience to understand, Sotomayor told the Tulane audience “‰e law is not just in a sense of right and this October night that she knows she’s wrong. If it were, there are so many things lucky she found her passion early. She’s that would turn out di‡erently in court.” never wanted to do anything else but be a ‰e law is “a way of regulating peo- lawyer or judge, and she’s in a profession ple’s relationships with one another.” It she loves. addresses “the competing interests that we But she gave this career advice: “What have with one another.” I wanted to tell you all, who might not “But we’re not black and white, are we? know what you want to do, is look for that So many things that judges deal with are thing that makes you happy, that thing that in gray areas. engages you in a way that leaves you at the “‰e only justice we can give you is to end of a night’s studying wanting more. tell you what the law says. But the sense “And can you be honest enough with of what the law says is something you yourself to not judge yourself by others’ can change.” expectations. Sotomayor emphasized, “Laws are “Enjoy what you’re doing, and if you ‰roughout her life, she said she has passed by men and women. ‰ey’re signed enjoy what you’re doing, you can make a found other role models, including teach- by presidents.” di‡erence.” ers and professional mentors, who helped But laws can be revoked, modified, Fitts, whose friendship with Sotomayor her grow “spiritually and emotionally.” amended and changed “when they’re no goes back ˆ years, was pleased with her Sotomayor’s family is Puerto Rican, longer serving the purpose that we in our replies. “‰is is a seminar in what it means and she grew up poor in Bronx, New York. society think is the right purpose.” to be a great human being,” he said. But with hard work, focus, friends and “That’s what you have to remember Fitts concluded the evening with the mentors (she set her sights on becom- about the law all the time,” said Soto - announcement that Tulane has established ing a lawyer and a judge since she was  mayor. “If you don’t like something that a four-year, full-tuition scholarship named years old), she achieved the pinnacle of the is happening out there, get up and change after Sotomayor. ‰e scholarship is des- legal world when she was conŒrmed to the it. Don’t complain about it. Don’t give up. ignated for a student who is dedicated to Supreme Court in •. If you can vote, anyone who misses an public service. election, shame on you.”

PHOTO BY KATHY ANDERSON 15 Tulane’s $3.14 billion impact on Louisiana’s economy and community includes jobs, discoveries, goodwill and more, a new study
nds. BY FAITH DAWSON

Ripple Effect

16 ulanian agazine  2019 Ripple Effect

IMAGES COURTESY TULANE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING 17 his fall, Tulane released a report “Tulane has always been that reveals its profound eco- nomic value to the city, the a little bit dierent in TGreater New Orleans area and that it’s always been the state of Louisiana. e university’s
. billion impact statewide, which directly an outward-focused and indirectly supports over , jobs, is one of the reasons the report declares university.” Tulane “a force for good.” Mike Fitts, President of Tulane Econsult Solutions (ESI) of Philadel- phia compiled the report using data, input and guidance provided by the O‰ce of Tulane Senior Vice President and Chief Operating O‰cer Patrick J. Norton. e report’s overall economic impact includes direct activity attributable to Tulane as well as the spillover e‘ect of that activity. “Tulane has always been a little bit di‘erent in that it’s always been an outward-focused university,” Tulane President Mike Fitts said. “We’re entering a new stage eco- nomically in our relationship with New Orleans,” he added, referring to Tulane’s exponential growth on both the uptown In scal year 2018, Tulane spent almost and downtown campuses. “Universities are about intellectual and human capital, and that’s important in this city.” $200 million Fitts presented the report to city lead- ers and government o‰cials in the fall, on research and develop- detailing Tulane’s contributions to the city ment, and surrounding areas in four categories: an 18 percent increase over 2014. operations, capital investments, wage pre- Research leads to successful Over $100 million of that funding came startups: J. Lowry Curley mium and visitor spending. (SSE ’12), left, and Michael J. But the true measure of Tulane’s impact Moore, professor of biomedical and potential far surpasses dollar ™gures. from outside the local economy, supporting engineering, collaborate in a lab. They are co-founders of e university’s mission of and dedication local jobs. AxoSim Technologies, which to education, research and service de™ne improves pharmaceutical its existence and are felt across the region. drug development with faster, advanced testing. In ™scal year š›, Tulane spent almost
š million on research and development, an › percent increase over š. Over
 million of that funding came from outside the local economy, supporting local jobs. “We’re adding more research capac- ity, and that produces a multiplier e‘ect throughout the economy,” Norton said. “ere’s obviously a number of rea- sons that a healthy Tulane is good for the community,” said Vice President for Government Affairs Sharon Courtney, who worked with ESI on the report. “One is the job creation piece: e more research dollars we bring in from outside the state, the more good jobs we create. e healthier we are, the more it allows us to use our resources within the community. Being a strong institution allows us to help create wealth within the New Orleans community.”

18 ulanian agazine  2019 Tulane offers good jobs: Christa Payne, bottom left, feels the love of her co-workers when receiving a President’s Staff Excellence Award in 2018. Each year, Tulane recognizes the contributions to the university of several staff members with these awards.

Statewide, directly and indirectly, e university directly creates quality for the future, and how that ‡ts into the 19,000 jobs within the city and state, ones that future of the city and the state,” she said. start out with well-paying salaries. ESI veri‡ed Tulane’s data and supple- Other good news for the city is that mented it with public data sources, in some jobs 
of Tulane’s alumni remain in Loui- cases averaging data over multiple years siana after graduation, creating an impact “to generate an appropriate assessment of are supported by the university’s of   million. typical annual activity,” according to ESI. $3.14 billion “We’re looking to create good jobs Tulane’s operations “support the uni- and creating pathways for success for versity’s continuing mission of cultivating impact. our students and all New Orleanians,” the next generation of leaders through Courtney said. scholarship, research and service,” the report’s authors wrote. By employing more than “,ˆˆˆ people at its various One of the Largest facilities and hospitals, the university is Employers in the State one of the largest employers in the state. Tulane also engages hundreds of local and From drawing in research dollars to the regional vendors; these operations overall state to fostering entrepreneurship and are responsible for more than  billion in technological innovations, Tulane raises total output statewide. the pro‡le of the city. When Tulane •ourishes, the city and e university measures its economic state are strengthened. impact every few years, Courtney said, not- Tulane’s operating budget includes ing the last report was compiled in ˆ‰. building upkeep, student services, hospital “What we wanted to do diŠerently this expenditures, the university endowment time was to have a deeper dive into our and more, which directly or indirectly current economic and social impact on the aŠect a variety of industries such as health city, state and region and use that as the care, administrative services and real estate. jumping oŠ point for the plans we have

19 Robust Construction Tulane is building thriving campuses in the student experience and the academic that attract and motivate talented faculty and research missions. We are very inten- and students. tional in how we invest in these strategic A recent notable addition to the areas,” said Norton. uptown campus is The Commons, a On the uptown campus, other upcom- ,-square-foot transformative space ing master plan projects include renova- that opened in late summer next to the tions at the Richardson Building – future Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life. home of the Carolyn Barber-Pierre Center Construction of e Commons — at ­€€ for Intercultural Life – and Richardson million — is part of the university’s ­ƒ„„ Memorial Hall – home to the School of million in total annual capital investment Architecture. There’s also construction Left: An architectural rendering depicts Steven and Jann Paul output in New Orleans, which generates of a new residential community for stu- Hall for the School of Science ‡€ direct, indirect and “induced” jobs or dents and Steven and Jann Paul Hall, the and Engineering, for which positions created as a result of economic new home of the School of Science and construction will begin in 2020. Engineering. Many of these projects will Right: The Commons, a $55 impact. On a state level, the annual capital million project that opened investment output rises to ­ƒ‹Œ million and be under construction concurrently and this fall, is at the heart of Œ direct, indirect and induced jobs. will ›nish in „„„. the uptown campus. Paul Hall, a four-story, ‡,-square- Facing page: Construction e Commons is part of the university’s for a new residential learning master plan, which prioritizes needs on foot building that will be located between community on the uptown campus. Stanley omas Hall and Flower Hall, will campus is also scheduled to include classrooms, labs and collaborative start in 2020. “e areas that the president has been very direct about are Tulane’s investment space for students and faculty.

20 ulanian agazine  2019 e university’s total annual capital investment output in New Orleans is $122 million, generating 650 direct, indirect and “induced” jobs or positions created as a result of economic impact.

Kimberly J. Foster, dean of the School of Science and Engineering, is keenly involved in planning for Paul Hall so that it meets NEW BUILDING B NEW BUILDING A the needs of rapidly changing research. “Tulane has always been NEW BUILDING D “I am a strong proponent of building NEW BUILDING C a little bit dierent in NEW BUILDING E spaces that force intersection and inter- action, because they enable the moments that it’s always been where discovery and invention occur,” she said. an outward-focused With the schools of Medicine, Pub- university.” lic Health and Tropical Medicine, and Social Work located downtown, Tulane Mike Fitts, President of Tulane is contributing to the resurgence of post– post-Katrina New Orleans. Also situated downtown are the ByWater Institute on the banks of the Mississippi River and the A. B. Freeman School of Business Stewart Center for Executive Education on Howard Avenue. And more Tulane expansion downtown is anticipated in the coming years. BRUFF QUAD AERIAL | ALL PHASES

TULANE BRUFF QUAD | PROJECT KICKOFF TULANE UNIVERSITY | DOMAIN COMPANIES | ESKEW+DUMEZ+RIPPLE

21 Extra Spending Social Impact Tulane is responsible for some While new construction may be an out- Tulane contributes to the well-being of ward symbol of progress, the university’s the city and state. 750,000 impact aects Greater New Orleans in The university is responsible for other ways as well. some ˆ€,€€€ volunteer hours over the volunteer hours For instance, spending by students and past Žve years, thanks to service learn- over the past
ve years. visiting families amounts to  million ing programs, student organizations like within the state. Besides enrolled students, CACTUS (Community Action Council Tulane hosts thousands of visitors annually, of Tulane University Students) and other thanks to events such as summer academic individual eorts, many of which beneŽt programs, campus tours, conferences and multiple agencies across New Orleans. board meetings. Other types of spending “Our engagement with ‹ˆ dierent stem from visitors who come to the city nonproŽt agencies gives them the ability for Tulane athletics events, such as Green to have additional human resources, and Wave football games or the €€ Women’s it also builds capacity within their orga- Final Four tournament, which the univer- nizations. In addition, the beneŽt for our sity will co-host in April of next year. students — to show them the world out- In the € – ‡ academic year, the uni- side of the university — connects them to versity hosted ˆ athletic events; about the city in ways that lead many of them to Š‹,ˆ€€ of the  €,€€€ total attendees came stay here after graduation,” Courtney said. Community engagement: Left: from outside New Orleans, taking advan- Shortly after his arrival to Tulane, Tulane students participate in tage of the city’s shopping, dining and School of Social Work Dean Patrick Bord- activities that benefit nonprofit hospitality, for an estimated ‹ million nick established a monthly street-level organizations and foster connections to the city. Right: output in the city. healthcare fair called Elk Place Health Downtown at the Elk Place Health Similarly, Tulane hospitals bring in Spot near the busy transit intersection Spot, School of Social Work €,€€€ individuals per year for inpatient of Canal Street and Elk Place. Now in students help deliver healthcare services to passers-by. and outpatient visits, nearly all from within its third year, it brings together about € ˆ miles of a given Tulane facility. healthcare organizations such as clinics and municipal agencies who set up walk-in dental and medical screenings for pass- ers-by. Ÿe school estimates that they reach between €€– ˆ€ individuals a month. Elk Place Health Spot teaches School of Social Work students to interact with Visit tulaniantulaneedu for additional content the community while delivering critical services to New Orleanians. Activities like these raise the university’s proŽle while serving the city’s needs.

22 ulanian agazine  2019 The university considers quality of only will we be increasing the number of On the Rise life both on and around the campuses. students that we house on campus, but In Ž‚‘€–‘“, the university realized its most Neighborhood safety, both uptown and this new community will provide spaces successful fundraising e ort to date, with downtown, benets from Tulane Police for students to engage with one another, ”•– of the gifts originating in states other Department patrols; last November the faculty and sta in a number of di erent than Louisiana. U.S. News and World Report department opened a new headquarters ways,” said Tim Lempfert, director of the ranked Tulane No. —‚ among the country’s downtown near the School of Medicine. Tulane Department of Housing and Resi- top national universities in the latest edition Likewise, the new residential commu- dence Life. “When complete, the building of its Best Colleges rankings. And, Prince- nity, which will be built on the former site will include small meeting rooms, seminar ton Review named Tulane the No. 1 school of Bru Commons and will feature €‚‚ rooms, social lounges, kitchenettes and a in the country for public service. beds, has the potential to bring in students large, amazing area for gathering, socializ- Tulane’s status as an economic engine, a who would otherwise live o -campus. ing and collaboration. We expect that this force for good — and its mission to serve “We are incredibly excited about the project will not only benet the students the community — resonate throughout work we are doing to design a new residen- living there, but will enhance the overall its campuses and create ripple e ects felt tial community on the uptown campus. Not experience for all students on campus.” far beyond.

‘Earn and Learn’

BY MATT ROBERTS Rodney Johnson, 19, didn’t even know what HVAC was before his high school career counselor suggested he apply to the Tulane Cowen Institute’s Earn and Learn Career Pathways program after graduation. Following his hands-on apprenticeship with Tulane Facilities Services, Johnson landed a full-time job at Tulane as a heating, ventilation and air conditioning techni- cian and plans to one day own his own company. “Without Earn and Learn,” Johnson said, “I don’t know where I would be.” Johnson is among a group of young people called “opportunity youth.” Often, they hold low-wage jobs with little chance for advancement. They may have experience with the juvenile justice system or unstable living and transportation conditions, which handicaps their ability to hold a job. The goal of the Earn and Learn program is to change that track. The program is open to young people in New Orleans between the ages of 18 and 24 who have earned a high school diploma and are looking to advance Rodney Johnson their careers. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Earn and Learn was developed from job market projections specific to New Orleans and is one of only a handful of its kind in the country. “Hard work, a good attitude and a willingness to keep learning are tools The program works with employers in the facilities management, hospi- that ensure continued success and a bright future,” said Hymel. tality and construction sectors to meet regional workforce demands. Earn and Learn staff serve as on-the-job coaches to provide companies Gallo Mechanical LLC, a family-owned mechanical construction firm, was like Gallo with hands-on resources to support their apprentices. having difficulty retaining entry-level workers and transitioning them to be- Apprentices receive individualized life coaching — wraparound case come union apprentices. Now, as an Earn and Learn program partner, Gallo management, college and career counseling, and transportation and child- screens and hires applicants, eventually working to get them into the Local care support — that helps provide the motivation needed to forge long- 60 Steam and Pipefitters Union. term, sustainable career pathways that contribute to financial prosperity. “We are committed to reinvesting in our community and its people,” said Earn and Learn participants dedicate at least 28 hours a week over Gallo’s director of special projects, Maria Pote. “We know that if we provide six months to the program, with the majority of the time working in paid the training and the targeted support that these young people need, they apprenticeships with employers such as Tulane Facilities Services, Gallo can develop lifelong skills for supporting their families.” Mechanical, Hilton Riverside Hotel and Brennan’s Restaurant. Participants Cowen Institute Deputy Director Amy Barad, the program’s founder, said also log several hours of classroom time, which includes academic, technical Gallo’s president, Tulane alum J.P. Hymel (E ’96), immediately understood and social-emotional coursework. Earn and Learn’s value proposition: to help ensure a reliable pipeline of To learn more about the Earn and Learn Career Pathways Program, visit talent in the skilled crafts industry. coweninstitute.org.

23 24 ulanian agazine  2019 Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, vice president for research, is leading Tulane toward a new era of impactful research that makes lives better. BY MARY ANN TRAVIS

hen Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, the new vice president of re- search, was asked, W what is the goal of research? he said, “at’s easy: to improve the life of people.” Everything that Tulane researchers do is focused on making “this very fragile primate (humans) have the most ful­lling, happy and healthy life possible,” he said. Piedimonte, a distinguished pediat- ric pulmonologist, joined Tulane this fall from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, where he held the Steven and Nancy Calabrese Endowed Chair for Excellence in Pediatric Care. At the announcement of Piedimonte’s appointment to Tulane, President Mike Fitts and Senior Vice President for Aca- demic A’airs and Provost Robin Forman issued a joint statement: “Dr. Piedimonte is an internationally renowned physician, researcher and healthcare executive. He brings to Tulane a passion for impactful research of all forms, and a special inter- est in collaborations that bring together scholars from disparate perspectives and areas of expertise. We are con­dent that his appointment will ensure that Tulane, which has been responsible for world-changing discoveries and inno- vations in areas that range from heart surgery and infectious diseases to coastal science and Maya archaeology, will play an increasingly prominent role in expanding our understanding of the world around us and improving the lives of people around the globe.” Piedimonte received his medical degree TURNING from the University of Rome School of Medicine in Italy, completed his resi - dency in pediatrics at the University of California–San Francisco, and received fellowship training at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the University POINT of California–San Francisco and the University of North Carolina–Chapel

PHOTO BY PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO 25 Hill. He also received training in health- “dedicated to nding causes, preventions, care management and managed care and “ings that are treatments and cures for infectious diseases capitation from the University of Miami and chronic conditions that a ect the lives School of Business; training in health pol- of people and animals worldwide.” icy and management from Harvard School important to Piedimonte expects the impact of of Public Health; training in healthcare research at the Primate Center to “grow finance and accounting from Baldwin New Orleans soon and rapidly.” A factor in the impor- Wallace University; and training in pop- tance of infectious disease research is ulation health from Thomas Jefferson are important the continual emergence of new germs University. all around the planet, said Piedimonte. Piedimonte’s research has been funded to the entire “It is quite possible at a certain point we by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are going to have to deal with pathogens for more than ­ years and he has been that either we know, but we cannot ght principal investigator or co-investigator globe.” anymore, or new pathogens that we didn’t on more than ­ research projects. As Giovanni Piedimonte, know anything about.” an administrator, he’ll lead the research vice president for research Antibiotics have combatted infectious enterprise at Tulane, which received ¡ƒ ¢ diseases such as pneumonia and increased million in funding for sponsored projects life expectancy well beyond ­–‚­ years, from the NIH and other external agencies which was the norm as late as the ƒ„ ­s in in scal year £­ƒ‹. Institute suite on the uptown campus. He the United States. But now “the use and Piedimonte will also continue his has an o‰ce on the downtown campus, abuse of antibiotics are creating superbugs own NIH-funded research at Tulane. His too, and he’d just attended a ByWater that are going to be increasingly di‰cult research has investigated respiratory infec- Institute meeting held at the Tulane River to ght,” said Piedimonte. Antibiotic-re- tions, particularly in children. Lately, how- and Coastal Center on the banks of the sistant superbugs present a big challenge. ever, he’s looking into the developmental Mississippi River. “e “common thread” And new germs — similar to the ƒ„ƒ‹ origins of health and disease by studying at the gathering, Piedimonte said, was that Spanish inŒuenza virus, which caused the the e ects of a mother’s illness, nutrition, “things that are important to New Orleans biggest rise in the mortality rate in history environment and emotional state on the are important to the entire globe.” — “are a threat to the entire humanity.” baby while in the womb — and after the Forty faculty members, deans and Among the research efforts at the child is born. senior administrators discussed coastal Primate Center, investigators are working “More and more, we understand that ecosystems and other issues on which the on vaccines against Ebola and Zika, viruses almost anything that a mother experi- ByWater Institute is currently focused. If that have resulted in recent devastating ences, in one way or another, is going to the sea level rises two centimeters, “New epidemics. “ey are developing drugs to a ect the fetus,” said Piedimonte. “A lot of Orleans is going to have a big problem, but treat exposure to the toxin ricin, a potential our fate, medically speaking, but not only so will Copenhagen or Venice, or many bioterrorism agent. And they are nding medically speaking, is determined before other urban areas populated by millions of methods to combat the continuing scourge we are born.” human beings,” said Piedimonte. of tuberculosis. Piedimonte is pleased to bring his Piedimonte wants to expand the People are living longer, thanks to investigations that involve biomedical ByWater Institute’s focus to more areas of advances in infectious diseases treatment. engineering, environmental studies and environmental safety, like pollution. “In my But with longer life, “they have time to infectious disease research, as well as mind,” he said, “the ByWater Institute can get sick for diabetes, for hypertension,” medicine, to the interdisciplinary setting become one of the leading comprehensive said Piedimonte. “e increase in chronic at Tulane. centers of environmental research in the pathologies in the population can be tied He’d like other Tulane researchers to United States.” to longer life expectancy. know: “I am one of them.” “e Tulane National Primate Research “It’s good that people live longer, but Center, located on the North Shore of Lake we want them to be healthy while they Pontchartrain in Covington, is also among age,” said Piedimonte, pointing to other From Coastal Ecosystems the university’s most strategically important research centers at Tulane that he envisions to Neuroscience to research centers, said Piedimonte. ““ere is will grow signicantly: the Brain Institute a unique opportunity to do research at the and the Center for Aging. “rough these Medieval Manuscripts Primate Center, which continues to be one centers, researchers address central ner- In late September — when Piedimonte had of the best in the country.” vous system degenerative diseases such as been on the job for three weeks — he talked “e Tulane National Primate Research dementia and Alzheimer’s and examine about his vision for Tulane research. He sat Center is one of seven National Institutes of tools that allow people to maintain the in his light-and-art–lled o‰ce on the sixth Health–funded National Primate Research functionality of the nervous system as they Œoor of the Boggs Center in the ByWater Centers (NPRCs), which form a “network get older.

26 ulanian agazine  2019 PHOTO BY PAUL MORSE COURTESY TULANE NATIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTER COURTESY BODLEIAN LIBRARIES, OXFORD

“ere is incredible research going on Tulane is a member of the Association across all nine schools at Tulane,” said of American Universities (AAU), an elite Piedimonte. As examples, he mentions group of high-research universities (‘’ School of Social Work Dean Patrick in the United States and two in Canada) Bordnick’s research into virtual real - that are invested in the improvement of ity technology to cope with addictions humanity through research. and School of Liberal Arts Professor of English Michael Kuczynski’s investigation “Great research of medieval manuscripts. An Enzyme to Trigger the Tipping Point comes from the Primordial Soup Piedimonte sees that all the pieces are in place for “exponential growth” in research combination Piedimonte plans to foster collaboration to occur at Tulane. among researchers whose worlds may “All the ingredients — talent, facilities, of experiences look distant. It is synergy that he’s hoping energy and forward-thinking leadership will be sparked. From his three decades — are here for the dawn of a new era of doing research, he is convinced that “great that are as research,” he said. research comes from the combination of “My goal is to try to bring these ingre- experiences that are as di‡erent as possible. di erent as dients together, like an enzyme, to create When you put together an engineer and a a reaction, to make Tulane one of the best medical doctor, when you put together a institutions in the country.” possible.” public health specialist and somebody who A favorite book of Piedimonte’s is e is interested in literature, that’s when new Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (Glad- and standard-breaking research is created.” well, by the way, is scheduled to participate Piedimonte’s No. ‰ goal is “to bring in the New Orleans Book Festival on cam- together people with different talent, pus in March. See “Reading Is Fun,” on with di‡erent backgrounds, with di‡er- page ˜™.) According to e Tipping Point, ent knowledge to basically answer the the phenomena of transformations, such Research at Tulane ranges questions that cannot be answered by the as water reaching the boiling point, don’t over many areas. Top, left: The individual specialties.” Louisiana coast near Isle de Jean follow linear paths. Rather, “there is a point e enthusiasm that Piedimonte has Charles is a focus of the ByWater in their growth when they start to grow Institute. Center: The Zika virus encountered on all the campuses of Tulane exponentially,” said Piedimonte. is detectable in the brain of an is “palpable,” he said. It’s as if research e tipping point comes about after “a infected macaque primate in activities at the university are in a “primor- the investigations of Nicholas certain process goes on a steady pace, and dial soup that is simmering.” Maness, research assistant then all of a sudden, when the environ- professor. Right: Oxford, MS “If we are able to bring these elements mental conditions are ideal, exponential Bodley 554, fol. 76v. From A together, the effect is going to be an Glossed Wycliffite Psalter, 2 growth occurs.” incredible growth in our research mission, vols. (Oxford University Press, is inšection point, he said — the tip- 2018–19), by Professor of English which is essential because that is a funda- ping point — is where Tulane is right now. Michael Kuczynski. mental mission of Tulane.”

27 Liz Davey, director of the Office of Sustainability

28 ulanian agazine  2019 greenIMPACTT Tulane is on target to meet the goals for its Climate Action Plan to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions. Liz Davey, director of the Office of Sustainability, has worked closely with students and administrators for 20 years on recycling efforts, energy efficiency and sustainable construction to get to this point, but there’s still more to do. BY ALICIA SERRANO

“ just love seeing people out riding their bikes. It’s so many more people than ever before riding their bikes, and [now we have] better accommodations for bicyclists,” said Liz Davey, director of Tulane’s I Oce of Sustainability. ­roughout Davey’s two decades at Tulane, she has contributed to many “wonderfully successful” projects involving students, including the New Orleans regional bicycle master plan for which her oce was awarded a grant in the early ƒ„„„s. “Our students were involved from the ground up,” said Davey. ­at a number of Tulane alumni, as city employees and advocates, are still involved with maintaining and expanding the city’s bicycle infrastructure is “so rewarding,” she said. ­e word rewarding can easily describe Davey’s ƒ„-year career as director in the sustainability oce. She has been an innovator in making the Tulane campus more sustainable and environmentally conscious, serving as a resource to campus partners, usually students, to push Tulane toward becoming a model green university. In ƒ„‡ˆ, Tulane adopted a Climate Action Plan that Davey is working to implement. ­is road map includes ways in which the university can reduce its environmental impact in its daily operations. ­ere is a short- term goal of reducing the campus’s greenhouse gas emissions by ‡ˆŒ by the end of ƒ„ƒ„ and a long-term goal of reaching carbon neutrality by ƒ„ˆ„. “In addressing climate change, our energy use is our biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, so we want to shrink that as much as possible and eliminate the dumb waste of energy,” Davey said. “I often say, if people could somehow see the wasted energy in the same way that we Liz Davey, director of the Office of Sustainability can see trash, people would be much more outraged about it.”

PHOTOS BY PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO 29 Tulane President Mike Fitts enthusiastically backs the Climate Action Dinwiddie, the First LEED Building Plan. During his State of the University address on Sept. “, he announced ­e Oce of Sustainability conducted its —rst Green- that the university is on track to meet the short-term goal and remains house Gas Emissions Inventory in ƒ„„ƒ, one of the —rst committed to the long-term goal. Tulane is also continuing to ensure in the country. Its author, then a student, now assistant that new buildings are constructed to receive Leadership in Energy and director of the ByWater Institute, Shelley Meaux, updated Environmental Design (LEED) certi—cation — the U.S. Green Building and expanded it in ƒ„„£. Each year since a senior student Council standard for green building design and operations. collects new data and updates the report. “One of the top priorities of my administration is reducing the envi- After Katrina, the university stepped up its e›orts to ronmental impact of our operations and supporting sustainability e›orts implement greener practices. across the Tulane community,” Fitts said. In ƒ„„£, Tulane signed the Presidents’ Climate Leader- ship Commitment, pledging to engage in creating a more Roots of Recycling sustainable future and to address climate change. ­at same year, the university began its —rst LEED Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, Davey’s passion for sustainability project: Dinwiddie Hall. issues and sustainability research took root. ­e renovation of that historic ‡žƒ¥ building, home “My inspiration for the things I’ve worked on come from my home- of the Department of Anthropology and the Middle town,” Davey said. “Madison has a lot of parks and bicycling facilities.” American Research Institute, stands out to Davey. Besides her parents, she had great mentors as an environmental “­e idea was, in the scope of this renovation, we will studies undergraduate at Dartmouth College. ­ey impressed upon her all learn about the LEED green building system together,” the seriousness of addressing climate change. she said. “Some of the individuals in my life as a young person were dedicated ­e renovation preserved more than half of the original both to protecting the natural world and to creating communities that interior surfaces. Green versions of drywall, ¦oor tile and were healthy and beautiful for everybody.” metal framing and stairs with a high recycled content are Davey said she aims to leave that same lasting impression on Tulane strategically incorporated throughout the building, accord- students. She’s been in her role at Tulane since ‡žžž, when her position ing to the building’s LEED case study. Low-¦ow —xtures was created as a result of student activism — and at a time when sustain- to reduce water use, daylight sensors that dim the overhead ability on university campuses was still considered a new idea. electric lighting when rooms receive enough natural light In ‡žž“, an undergraduate environmental sociology class conducted and occupancy sensors to turn o› the lights when rooms are an environmental report card of Tulane. One student in the class, Aaron empty lessen the environmental impact as well. A shower Allen, became interested in universities as laboratories for learning is even available for bike commuters, and several bike racks about sustainability and wrote his honors thesis, “Greening the Campus: line the building outside to support bike use. Institutional Environmental Change at Tulane University,” on how to ­e §‡ƒ million project was completed in ƒ„‡„ and institutionalize greening at Tulane. He concluded the university needed received LEED’s Gold Certi—cation for Major Construc- to hire someone dedicated to leading sustainability work. tion and Renovation. He then lobbied the university administration to create the position “­e university architect’s oce, the contractor, the that Davey has held since. local architect; we basically all had this attitude like, ‘we’re “(At the beginning) I would partner with anyone who wanted to all doing this for the —rst time,’ and it turned out to be a add an environmental dimension to their program,” she said. Recycling beautiful building. I think it shows how sustainability and programs, however, have always been the core of student projects. She historic preservation go together,” Davey said. remembers students showing her how they collected discarded cardboard Native cypress trees — which are also scattered across boxes as people moved into their residence halls. campus — were planted in front of the building and help “We do that every single year now. It’s a huge part of the recycling reduce the sunlight absorbed by the sidewalk, also known program and what we do.” as the “heat island e›ect.” “­at row of cypress in front of Dinwiddie is extra special,” Davey said. “­ey add to the large existing cypress that is tucked up against the building.” Other LEED projects on campus now include two residence halls, Weatherhead Hall and Barbara Greenbaum House; the Hertz Center, home to Tulane’s volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball teams; the Donna and Paul “ If people could somehow see the Flower Hall for Research and Innovation; Yulman Sta- dium; the addition to the Goldring/Woldenberg Complex, wasted energy in the same way that home of Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business; new lab spaces in the J. Bennett Johnston Health and Environmen- we can see trash, people would be tal Research Building on Tulane Avenue; and the School of Social Work space within Elk Place. Davey played a much more outraged about it.” signi—cant role in planning the green features in spaces Liz Davey, director of the Oce of Sustainability within the buildings or added to the buildings.

30 ulanian agazine  2019 Davey’s Mark • Tulane’s campus recycling program is the longest running and largest in the city besides New Orleans municipal curbside collection. • Water bottle–filling stations are available on the uptown campus in over 20 locations, with current students now surveying buildings to identify additional locations. • With the implementation of a 15-cent charge for single-use plastic bags at all dining and bookstore locations, the Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus ordered 60% fewer plastic bags in fall 2019. • Tulane Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory reports were first conducted in 2002, and have been done every year since 2006. • Eight buildings/facilities on the uptown campus and two on the downtown campus are LEED-certified. The Tulane River and Coastal Center is also LEED-certified. • The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education presented Liz Davey with a Campus Sustainability Research Award in 2018.

Liz Davey, center, relies on students and staff members to help her run the Office of Sustainability. Front row, left to right: Sam Hinerfeld, Darrah Bach, Liz Davey, Hannah Cohen, Ella Cat Strahan. Back row, left to right: Nick Pellegrini, Juwan Magee, Jordan Stewart, Lee Lowery.

Waste Reduction on campaigns and events focused on reducing and reusing campus waste. When Davey isn’t assisting in planning campus LEED ­ey help promote reusable mugs, utensils and a reusable dining container building projects, she is often meeting and working with available at certain dining locations on campus. students, and her collaborations have blossomed into “Students are involved in very real ways in doing the work of this practical, on-the-ground initiatives. oce,” she said. During the past few years, the Oce of Sustainability has spearheaded the university’s Climate Action Week, held every spring. ­e week includes panels, lectures, workshops, A Greener Future and a campus and community organization fair to connect Although students are major team players, Davey remains at the helm of students with groups involved in environmental projects. it all, and she has garnered national recognition for her work. In ƒ„‡£, she ­e promotion of waste reduction and the develop- received the Campus Sustainability Research Award from the Association ment of reusable items has also lately played a key role in for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. ­e award the e›orts of the sustainability oce. is presented to individuals or organizations whose research leads and With Davey’s guidance, the Undergraduate Student inspires the advancement of sustainability in higher education. Government (USG) Sustainability Committee was able She received the honor after authoring an article, “Recapturing the to organize the installation of water bottle–—lling stations Learning Opportunities of University Sustainability Indicators” in the on campus in an e›ort to reduce single-use plastic water Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (ƒ„‡°). ­e article explains bottle waste. After USG passed a resolution to university how the university and its students can measure, evaluate and address administrators to charge ‡ˆ cents for single-use plastic bags sustainability in the university community. at all dining and bookstore locations, Davey helped them Even though Davey’s contributions have paved the way for Tulane’s implement the policy in early ƒ„‡ž. For the fall semester, green path, more work is ahead. Tulane is tapped into the best practices the Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus ordered “„Œ of what other universities are doing nationwide, but now is an important fewer plastic bags. time to scale up the e›orts. “­ey (students) come up with their ideas for projects. “It’s such a privilege to have a job like this; that you can work with I do an awful lot of telling students some of the roadblocks students, working in education. It’s very rewarding,” she said. “But it also they may encounter with some of their ideas, helping is a responsibility, and I feel like everyone in my spot has to ramp it up. them connect with people who can help them or answer “If you think about being a sustainable community, it’s not just the their questions to move their project proposals along,” environmental impact, it’s also our impact on the larger community. Are Davey said. we helping to create a more just community, a more equal community? ­e Oce of Sustainability is also home to a group of ­at’s part of having a healthy, sustainable community in the long term.” student volunteers called the Waste Warriors, who work

Visit tulaniantulaneedu for additional content 31 Reading Is Fun

THOMAS ADAMS | IÑAKI ALDAY | JAMI ATTENBERG | C. MORGAN BABST BOUDREAUX | DONNA L. BRAZILE | DAVID BROOKS | SARAH M. BROOM | GINNY BRZEZINSKI CARTER | JEAN CASE | STEVE CASE | JILL CONNER BROWNE | JUSTIN DEVILLIER | CHERYL GERBER | MALCOLM GLADWELL | EDDIE GLAUDE | ANNETTE GORDON-REED GRISHAM | YURI HERRERA | LADEE HUBBARD | VALERIE JARRETT | MARGARITA JOVER | NANCY LEMANN | NICK LEMANN | MICHAEL LEWIS | ERIC MOTLEY | JUSTIN NYSTROM POWER | SISTER HELEN PREJEAN | CAROL MCMICHAEL REESE | PETER RICCHIUTI SCARBOROUGH | ALON SHAYA | KATY SIMPSON SMITH | ANNE SNYDER | MIKE STRECKER SEAN TUOHY | SHEBA TURK | MARK VANLANDINGHAM | KIM VAZ-DEVILLE

32 ulanian agazine  2019 For book lovers of all ages, the New Orleans Book Festival is poised to be a premiere national literary event. The festival welcomes everyone to campus in March to meet and greet famous authors and celebrate the joy of literature. BY BARRI BRONSTON

C. MORGAN BABST | JOHN BARRY | JASON BERRY | ROY BLOUNT JR. | BEAU GINNY BRZEZINSKI | MIKA BRZEZINSKI | RICHARD CAMPANELLA | STEPHANIE JUSTIN DEVILLIER | BRIAN EDWARDS | DAVE EGGERS | FREDDI EVANS | EMMA FICK ANNETTE GORDON-REED | RICHARD GRANT | ROBERTA BRANDES GRATZ | JOHN MARGARITA JOVER | MOLLY KIMBALL | MITCH LANDRIEU | KRIS LANE | ERIK LARSON JUSTIN NYSTROM | PETER S. ONUF | TOM PIAZZA | LAWRENCE N. POWELL | SAMANTHA PETER RICCHIUTI | SUSAN RICE | MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN | MATT SAKAKEENY | JOE MIKE STRECKER | EVAN THOMAS | MICHAEL TISSERAND | POPPY TOOKER | KIM VAZ-DEVILLE | CLEO WADE | DARREN WALKER | JEANETTE WEILAND | CHRIS YANDLE

33 across the country and couldn’t help but think that his home- town was missing out on something special. “As an author, I noticed that so many cities around the country have major book festivals,” Isaacson said. “I love all the festivals in New Orleans, but it seemed to me that some- “Events like this make where in the cultural calendar between food and wine and jazz it would be fun to do a major literary and ideas festival.” our campus and the To have Tulane as a partner convinced Landrieu that the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane, even in its inaugural Tulane experience year, would be one for the ages. “It’s a natural literary thing to have a university as partner, and with Walter’s connec- tions, we felt we could really put on something special,” available to everyone, she said. ”e list of authors who have committed to the festival especially the young reads like a who’s who of the literary and media worlds, beginning with an opening night keynote discussion and reception with John Grisham, whose legal thrillers from minds and aspiring A Time to Kill to e Reckoning have sold upwards of ƒ— million copies and been translated into ˜ƒ languages. writers of New Orleans.” The festival will continue throughout the weekend Mike Fitts, President of Tulane with panel discussions, keynote lectures, books fairs and workshops. It will be divided into seven tracks — American Society, Health & Science, Food, Sports, New Orleans Culture, Fiction and Children. At least one major plenary session featuring a leading author will be held each day, and a variety of social events and sponsorship opportunities will take place across the city, including a patron dine-around at neighboring Audubon Place. ”e lineup as of Tulanian press time includes David taging a book festival to expose children to the Brooks (e Road to Character), Donna L. Brazile (For Col- joy of reading was one of Cheryl Landrieu’s most ored Girls Who Have Considered Politics), Sarah M. Broom rewarding achievements as rst lady of the City of (e Yellow House), Jill Conner Browne (e Sweet Potato SNew Orleans. Partnering with civil rights activist Queens), Malcolm Gladwell (Talking to Strangers), Eddie and educator Ruby Bridges in observance of the th Glaude (Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the anniversary of the desegregation of public schools, Landrieu American Soul), Annette Gordon-Reed (Most Blessed of envisioned a celebration of learning replete with author the Patriarchs: omas JeŠerson and the Empire of Imagina- readings, book giveaways and literacy resources for parents. tion), Mitch Landrieu (In the Shadow of Statues: A White And that is exactly what she got, with families of all Southerner Confronts History), Michael Lewis (e Undoing backgrounds, from all parts of the city, gathering on the Project), Samantha Power (e Education of an Idealist: A lawn of Milton H. Latter Memorial Library in ƒ„ for the Memoir), Sister Helen Prejean (River of Fire: My Spiritual inaugural New Orleans Children’s Book Festival. Journey), Susan Rice (Tough Love: My Story of the ings Nearly a decade later, the festival is about to take Worth Fighting For), and Sean Tuohy, whose story about a major leap into the literary world with a three-day adopting football player Michael Oher was the basis for extravaganza that organizers predict will become one Michael Lewis’ book e Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. of the premiere book events in the country. The New Dozens of local authors, including Tulane professors Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, scheduled for Richard Campanella (Lost New Orleans) and Mark Van- March „Š–ƒ„, ƒƒ, will continue the tradition of children’s Landingham (Weathering Katrina), will also be participating programming but will go well beyond cartoon characters, in the festival. juice boxes and storytelling. Mika Brzezinski (Know Your Value) and Joe Scarborough “It is Tulane’s great honor to host a festival that brings (e Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once together the world’s leading authors, book lovers of all Mastered Politics — and Can Again) of MSNBC’s “Morning genres and the children of our community,” President Mike Joe” will broadcast from Tulane on Friday, March ƒ. (Isaac- Fitts said. “Events like this make our campus and the Tulane son makes regular appearances on “Morning Joe.”) experience available to everyone, especially the young minds The family portion of the festival will be especially and aspiring writers of New Orleans.” engaging, with author readings, parent workshops, a reading Landrieu is partnering with Tulane’s own Walter Isaacson, corner and costume characters all part of the experience. In a history professor who knows a thing or two about the literary partnership with Scholastic Corporation, a multinational world, to co-chair the festival. Author of such best-selling publishing and education company, and the City of New biographies as Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and Universe, Ben- Orleans’ Department of Youth and Families, the festival will jamin Franklin: An American Life, and most recently Leonardo reach out to teachers and school organizations in advance DaVinci, Isaacson has appeared at countless book festivals of the festival to encourage attendance.

34 ulanian agazine  2019 “We want kids to come and meet authors and learn “We’ll have a tent and we’ll be providing activities for what authors do,” Landrieu said. “We want them to see a young kids centered around writing.” Eggers is expected college campus and meet professors. We want it to be a very to be in attendance to highlight the work of New Orleans energetic, dynamic, diverse experience. And most important, participants. we want kids to see that reading is fun.” Family Day will take place on the Berger Family Lawn As part of the planning process, she and Isaacson met in the center of campus, while the other parts of the fes- with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who couldn’t tival will be spread among the Lavin-Bernick Center for have been more thrilled with the idea but emphasized the University Life, ‚e Commons, Freeman and McAlister importance of family programming. auditoriums and the Myra Clare Rogers Memorial Chapel. “She was enthusiastically supportive,” Isaacson said. “But Except for a few ticketed events — such as the John she was the one who suggested that we emphasize family Grisham keynote and patron dinners and receptions — literacy and make it a celebration of community literacy. admission to the festival is free. We want it to be a fun day but also a valuable educational “‚is is not an invitation-only event,” Isaacson said. “We opportunity.” want this to be accessible to anyone who wants to come. We ‚e Book Fest committee, which also includes Allison want to involve everyone, from all walks of life and all ages.” Hjortsberg and Lindsey Billips, is working with local public school and library systems to make sure that families are not only aware of Family Day but know that it is free. Among the organizations that the festival is partnering with is ’“” New Orleans, a nonpro•t group that cultivates and publishes the writing of New Orleans children and teens. ‚e group is a chapter of ’“” National, which was NEW ORLEANS BOOK FESTIVAL AT TULANE, co-founded by Dave Eggers, author of such award-winning MARCH 19–21, 2020. books as Zeitoun and What Is the What. Book Fest team members (left to right) Allison Hjortsberg, Lindsey Billips, “We provide a safe space for young writers to develop Walter Isaacson and Cheryl Landrieu join Tulane President Mike Fitts at their craft,” ’“” New Orleans Executive Director Brooke the announcement of the Book Festival lineup in October. Picket said. “We believe strong writing skills lead to self advocacy and self empowerment.” She said the New Orleans Book Festival presented an ideal opportunity to showcase the organization’s mission with the wider New Orleans community.

PHOTO BY JACKSON HILL 35 Wavemakers TULANE EXPERIENCES ANOTHER RECORD FUNDRAISING YEAR

or the third straight year, Tulane University “While excitement is building at Tulane raised † percent more than during the has posted a record-setting fundraising pace, as we near our goal, the success of this inaugural Give Green in . inspiring an unprecedented , donors to campaign will have the greatest impact “This was another tremendous year Fgive more than  million in the
scal year beyond our campuses,” Tulane President for Tulane University, and I applaud the -, second only to last year’s total of  million. Mike Fitts said. “We raise funds to sup- e—orts of everyone involved,” Yulman said. is
scal year’s fundraising totals pushed Tulane port today’s most advanced research and “The success of the Only the Audacious past the billion-dollar mark of the Only the Audacious: teaching, preparing tomorrow’s leaders to campaign will allow Tulane to continue e campaign for an ever bolder Tulane. Tulane has cur- address society’s most intractable problems. to attract the brightest and most accom- rently raised .­ billion toward its goal of . billion. Our success would not be possible without plished students from around the world, So far, nearly  million of the campaign’s overall our hundreds of campaign volunteers across pursue top faculty and sta— and enhance commitments will support innovative research that the country led by co-chairs Catherine D. the overall campus experience.” ranges from combating infectious diseases to the latest Pierson, Hunter Pierson, Phyllis Taylor and breakthroughs in brain science. Richard Yulman.” Increasing scholarship funding is a major prior- This year’s fundraising success was ity of the campaign. To that end,  endowed and boosted by events such as the second- Below: Fans of Tulane on Give Green Day. Facing current-use scholarships and fellowships have been annual day of giving, Give Green, which page, left: James McLachlan (center) will lead an immune system study with John McLachlan (left) created since the launch of the campaign in December raised more than †, in ­ hours. and Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis (right); right: A gift †. e percentage of
rst-generation students in Donors from all  states and worldwide from Robert and Elizabeth “Libby” Alexander will Tulane’s incoming class has also increased by approx- contributed more than , gifts and benefit research faculty. imately  percent since †.

36 ulanian agazine  2019 WAVEMAKERS DONORS GIVE $2 MILLION TO HELP FACULTY COMPETE FOR RESEARCH DOLLARS

Tulane receives $1 million to study why women have stronger immune systems

o women have an extra line of defense in their ulane alumna and board member research enterprise across the university immune systems that gives them an advantage Elizabeth “Libby” Alexander (NC and across all disciplines.” D over men in
ghting infections? T’­)and her husband, Robert, have The gift will support research grant at’s one of the questions Tulane University research- pledged  million to set up a fund to sup- proposal development initiatives in the ers hope to answer using a  million grant from the W. port faculty and the university’s research School of Medicine, the School of Public M. Keck Foundation to study how sex di—erences shape grant proposal development initiatives so Health and Tropical Medicine, the School disparate immune responses in men and women. that researchers can spend more time pur- of Science and Engineering, the Tulane e grant was awarded to a team of School of Medi- suing world-changing discoveries. National Primate Research Center, and cine scientists led by James McLachlan, associate professor “After speaking with researchers and elsewhere in the university, including of microbiology and immunology. He will work with learning they were spending an inordinate cross-disciplinary research e—orts. It will his father, Weatherhead Professor of Pharmacology amount of time on administration — putting also help researchers in meeting com- John McLachlan, a national expert in women’s health grants together and doing follow-up pliance and reporting requirements for and estrogen action, and Price-Goldsmith Professor of reporting — rather than focusing on im- existing grants. Nutrition Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, a leading researcher pactful research, we knew there had to be “If we can help relieve investigators of sex di—erences in metabolic diseases. a better solution,” said Libby Alexander. from all of those di—erent administrative “One of the most fundamental, unanswered questions in “Lifting these administrative burdens will tasks in proposal development, so that immunology and in§ammation is why males and females enable Tulane researchers to secure funding they can just focus on the science, we’ve often exhibit vastly di—erent immune responses,” said James even faster and with a higher success rate done them a tremendous service and McLachlan. “Females respond more vigorously to infection than ever before.” we’re enabling them to submit more grant and vaccination compared to males, but they also exhibit a The gift will support Tulane’s newly applications to pursue even more research,” greater incidence of many autoimmune diseases.” expanded Office of Research Proposal said Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, Tulane vice “We made the surprising discovery that females appear Development, an o¢ce solely dedicated president of research. “I think that we’re to have evolved an immune system that is distinct and to helping faculty across the university pre- going to see some exciting returns on those separate from that of males,” McLachlan said. “It is possi- pare the best possible proposals for federal investments, and some great science will be ble that this novel immune system can explain why female research grants from sponsors such as the coming out of the process.” immunity is often much more potent across species.” National Institutes of Health, the National Libby Alexander is the former vice Based in Los Angeles, the W. M. Keck Foundation Science Foundation and others. chairman of the board of Cotiviti Inc., the was established in ­ by the late W. M. Keck, founder “Research is at the heart of Tulane’s successor company of her family’s retail of the Superior Oil Co. e foundation’s grant-making mission,” said Tulane University President and healthcare payment integrity business, is focused primarily on pioneering e—orts in the areas of Mike Fitts. “We’re so grateful to Libby and Connolly Inc. Robert Alexander is the for- medical, science and engineering research. Robert Alexander for their generous sup- mer chief information o¢cer of Connolly. port as we work to signi
cantly expand our

37 WAVEMAKERS MAJOR GIFT LAUNCHES FIRST AMENDMENT CLINIC

ith support from a nearly  million gift from the Stanton Foundation, Tulane Law School will launch a new law clinic W dedicated to First Amendment rights, Dean David Meyer announced. e gift will cover the full operating costs of the new clinic for
ve years and enable the law school to hire a new faculty member to lead the clinic. Once in operation, the clinic will represent clients seeking to vindicate First Amendment rights of speech, of the press, to petition and of assembly under the super- vision of faculty mentors. “is is an exceptional opportunity to extend Tulane’s signature strength in clinical education, while leveraging our faculty’s leading expertise in the First Amendment GIFT WILL TRANSFORM and serving vital community needs,” Meyer said. “We’re grateful to the Stanton Foundation for partnering with JEWISH STUDIES Tulane in making this possible.” e Stanton Foundation was created by Frank Stan- ton, a longtime president of CBS News, to advance ulane University has received a a dynamic and innovative slate of pro - First Amendment and democratic values through an generous gift from Stuart and gramming,” said Michael Cohen, Sizeler T Suzanne Grant of Wilmington, Professor of Jewish Studies and chair of informed citizenry. The foundation partnered with Tulane in the new Delaware, to establish the Stuart and the Department of Jewish Studies. clinic both because of Tulane’s renowned strength in Suzanne Grant Center for the American The Grants formed the I Could Do clinical education and its leading faculty expertise on the Jewish Experience. It is among the largest Great ings Foundation in  to sup- First Amendment. gifts to the Tulane School of Liberal Arts port a range of social initiatives related to One of the
rst law schools in the country to launch a and the largest ever to the Department of education, Jewish causes and projects that clinical program, Tulane remains a national leader in pro- Jewish Studies. strengthen communities. ey also provided viding professional skills training to students. e school e gift from the Grants’ I Could Do an initial gift to an initiative at Tulane Uni- celebrated the ­th anniversary of its clinical program Great ings Foundation will double the versity that fosters academic collaboration last spring. number of research faculty in the Jewish between U.S. and Israeli universities. Studies department. e gift will also pro- Stuart Grant is the co-founder of Grant vide operating support for the center that & Eisenhofer P.A., and the co-founder and will bear their name. managing director of Bench Walk Advisors. “With this visionary gift, Tulane is Suzanne Barton Grant serves as the poised to become a national leader in the chair of the board of the Delaware State study of the American Jewish experience, Pension Fund. She is former president of with a particular, unique and interdisci- the Jewish Federation of Delaware and the plinary focus on the history of Jews in the immediate past national campaign chair Gulf South and the region more generally,” for Jewish Federations of North America. Tulane President Mike Fitts said. “We are The Grants’ son Sam graduated from so grateful to the Grants for their sup- Tulane in May  with a Bachelor of Sci- port, which will position Tulane as a hub ence in psychology. He is now a lieutenant of excellence and the global leader in the in the U.S. Marine Corps. study of the American Jewish experience.” “anks to the tremendous generos- Above: A donation by Tulane parents Stuart and ity of Stuart and Suzanne Grant, we will Suzanne Grant, pictured with their son Sam (SSE ’19), will create the Stuart and Suzanne Grant build a world-class faculty and implement Center for the American Jewish Experience.

38 ulanian agazine  2019 Submit your news to alumni.tulane.edu/news and follow @tulanealumni on Facebook to Tulanians share your memories and join the conversation. What impact did your Tulane education have on your career? Did you meet a future business partner? Take a class that changed your career direction?

Tulane has everything to do with my career (now a professor of social work and a clinician), from the psych professor who advised me into social work, to the faculty at the School of Social Work, to the fantastic internships. It was all Tulane. Stacy Lang (NC ’87, SW ’88)

I came to Tulane after being recruited by the Army ROTC program. I never expected to make the Army Reserves a career choice. Now, 23 years later, I’m an Army colonel, recently completed my doctorate in public health, started teaching future healthcare administrators and am launching a new venture to help seniors age safely at home. I’d say accepting a seat with the Class of 1996 was a great choice for me! SCENES FROM WAVE  Caroline Pogge (NC ’96) Homecoming and Family Weekend 2019 brought together the reunion classes of 1979 and 1984, among others. Glorious weather and a football victory kept spirits high.

PHOTOS BY CHERYL GERBER

39 IMPRESSION country, one which presents the challenges of the in downtown Phoenix Š¤ years ago, at which ˜Šst century in the highest relief,” said Reiter. Š¨,ššš students are now enrolled. He’s also the WELLINGTON Reiter has called two cities on the I-‘’ home former dean of the ASU College of Design. He where water is crucial to their futures. One is serves on the Tulane School of Architecture ‘DUKE’ REITER New Orleans, which has an abundance of water, Advisory Board. and Phoenix in the desert Southwest with a He’s usually dealing with concerns related ellington “Duke” Reiter (A ’‰Š) is scarcity of water. to the built environment of the university, and convinced “bending the curve of the Water — too much or too little — is of vital “why we are where we are, and what we plan W future will require thinking at scale.” importance to these two cities and thus a logical to do there.” He is the founder of TEN ACROSS (‘’X) point of initiation for this project. He also runs the University City Exchange whose main goal is “awareness-building” for –e formative years that Reiter spent in New at ASU, which addresses what can the univer- the critical issues of our time including water, Orleans as an architecture student led him to sity do for the city? And what can the city do energy and immigration, all of which he sug- this moment, he said. His Tulane thesis was on for the university? gests are found in their most dramatic forms disaster housing. –en his graduate work at the Reiter said he cares deeply about the rela- along the Interstate Highway ‘’ corridor. Graduate School of Design at Harvard was on tionship between cities and universities. To plan e•ectively for the future, “it takes how New Orleans could plan more e•ectively TEN ACROSS (‘’X)’s next summit leadership, it takes policy changes, it takes for the inevitable signi£cant weather events that (www.‘’xwatersummit.com) is scheduled for public will, it takes patient communication, visit the city on a regular basis. (Reiter brought March ˜¨-˜¤, ˜š˜š, in Houston and will use and, to some degree, a disregard for conven- ¤š Tulane architecture students to Arizona water as a leading indicator of how we will deal tional boundaries, ” said Reiter, an architect and State University when Katrina struck in ˜šš¤.) with large-scale issues of all kinds. urban planner. When Reiter moved to Phoenix, he saw “‘’X is about building a network of –e I-‘’ corridor — stretching ˜,™šš miles similar consequences with regard to pre- networks,” Reiter said. In dialogue with like- from Los Angeles to Phoenix, Houston, New paredness. He is now the senior advisor to the minded universities, like-minded mayors and a Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida — “provides president of Arizona State University. He’s community of foundations, “everyone is going the most compelling window on the state of the in charge of large-scale, multi-stakeholder to bene£t from the knowledge exchange.” projects such as establishing a major campus

40 ulanian agazine  2019 PHOTO BY ANDY DELISLE, © ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS KENNETH E ARNOLD PHTM ’ L ’ 1960 and holds the Jack Perry Strong, MD, What impact did your 1969 was appointed vice chair of the board of Endowed Chair of Pathology. His sec- directors for Covenant Health in Mas- ond text, e Color Atlas of Mycology, was Tulane education have sachusetts this summer. published in November ˜šŠ‰. on your career? Did you JAMES H Former Louisiana politician –e Association of American Medical SCOTT MEXIC A&S ’ B ’ L ’ of meet a future business “JIM” BROWN L ’ has just published Colleges announced the ˜šŠ¬ recipi- Washington, D.C., was recently named partner? Take a class his £fth book, My Louisiana Odyssey, in ents of the association’s annual awards, to the board of a national charity, State that changed your which he describes his personal rela- which honor individuals and institu- Funeral for World War II Veterans, tionships with a number of the state’s tions making signi£cant contributions to whose purpose is to gain presidential career direction? governors, as well as tales of meeting medical education, research, clinical care, support for a state funeral for the last di•erent presidents. His banjo playing and community engagement. N KEVIN Medal of Honor recipient from World helped him get through Tulane Law KRANE MD M ’, vice dean for aca- War II. School and also led to a brief acting demic a•airs and professor of medicine at career. He lives in Baton Rouge. the Tulane School of Medicine, received 1980

TIM BERRA G ’ ’ published his ninth an Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser 1989 book in ˜šŠ¬, Bourbon: What the Educated Distinguished Teacher Award for his Drinker Should Know, which is illustrated “ability to lead and collaborate, which WILLIAM TEMPLE BEAM JR A&S ’ with ˜®¤ of his own photos. He also pre- ensured Tulane medical students and , sented two lectures at Tulane this spring, faculty were quickly able to resume their who lives in Prospect, Kentucky, has When I was accepted to Tulane, I one discussing his recent book, Darwin work after Hurricane Katrina, [and] his retired from a career in political and was o•ered £nancial aid and the and His Children: His Other Legacy, and passion for innovation that has led to public service in that state. He continues opportunity for a work study. a research seminar entitled “Chasing thoughtful curricular reforms that have to attend Tulane homecoming annually I worked on the Direction Nursery£sh and Avoiding Crocodiles helped students keep up with the rapid and serve on various boards, including in Northern Australia.” Berra lives near proliferation of information.” the Kentucky Derby Museum and Ken- Speakers Symposium, overseen by Carolyn Barber-Pierre, and Bellville, Ohio. DR TERRYL PROPPER NC ’, a Nashville tucky Country Day School. participated in a panel where endodontist, was named president of the Morris Adjmi Architects in New York 1970 Tennessee Dental Association. City, led by principal MORRIS ADJMI Joyce Carol Oates came to speak. A ’ 1979 SHERRY , published A Grid and a Con- During the panel, she said: “All we New works by mixed media artist can ever ask for is an opportunity.” KARVER G ’ were on display at Strem- versation, the £rst monograph on the £rm’s work. MARLENE ESKIND MOSES NC ’ SW mel Gallery in Reno, Nevada, this fall. In my career in energy, I have been MICHAEL J BELL A ’ L ’ ’ has been selected for inclusion in Her “Surveillance Series” was featured in of Bell fortunate to participate directly in the ˜š˜š edition of e Best Lawyers in the August ˜šŠ¬ issue of Edge of Human- Architecture in New Orleans celebrated the largest natural gas discoveries America. She has been recognized by Best ity Magazine. She was also chosen as a the design of the £rm’s ¤ššth home for in history, converting a large Lawyers for over Šš years for her family £nalist for the Texas Photographic Soci- New Orleans Area Habitat for Human- percentage of the U.S.’ electricity ety National Photography award. Karver law practice in Nashville, Tennessee. ity this summer. Bell has created Š¤ plants from coal-burning to lives in Oakland, California. di•erent designs and donated the draw- NATALIA COKINOS OAKES NC ’ was natural gas. GORDON LOVE M ’ was appointed ings for ¤šš new homes, including those elected judge of the ¨Š¨th Juvenile Family in the now iconic Musicians’ Village. Tulane (and a lot of red beans District Court of Harris County, Texas, chair of the Department of Pathology CAMERON M WEBER B ’ and rice Mondays) gave me the in November ˜šŠ‰, for a four-year term. at Louisiana State University School of has produced opportunity to be part of this Oakes lives in Houston. Medicine in New Orleans in May ˜šŠ¬. his ˜¤th television show for the Brook- He is a microbiologist and mycologist lyn Free Speech Media Network. –e global change. I will always be monthly show about libertarian political grateful for the in°uence of economy, also available on YouTube, is Carolyn Barber-Pierre and to have called “Hard£re TV.” Weber, an econom- been part of the class of ’96. HEALTHCARE LEADER ics professor at St. John’s University in Joan Williams Dunlap (NC ’96) NYU Langone Health announced that New York University School Queens, New York, also earned a dual of Medicine will be renamed the NYU Robert I. Grossman School PhD in economics from the New School of Medicine in honor of the current dean of the school and CEO for Social Research. of NYU Langone Health, ROBERT GROSSMAN (A&S ’69). MARTIN MOELLER A ’ and STEVEN Grossman was the principal architect of many historic initiatives in DICKENS A ’ are taking a yearlong health care, including the recent decision to provide tuition-free sabbatical in Italy and Miami. Moeller medical education for all current and future students in the left his position as senior curator at the school’s MD degree program. He was also behind the creation of National Building Museum in Washing- NYU Long Island School of Medicine — a partnership between ton, D.C., and plans to work full time as NYU and NYU Langone Health — offering full-tuition scholarships an independent curator and writer and I started Advano [a will be a visiting scholar at the American with an accelerated three-year curriculum exclusively devoted to nanotechnology startup]. Academy in Rome this fall. Dickens is Alexander Girau (SSE ’12) training primary care physicians. taking a leave of absence and will return to work at Eric Colbert & Associates following the sabbatical.

41 TULANIANS continued

Submit your news to alumni.tulane.edu/news and follow @tulanealumni on Facebook to join the conversation.

New Orleans artist BARBARA BRAIN THOMAS FLANAGAN L ’, an attorney SHANNON WEBER SW ’ recently pub- ARD’S NC ’ G ’ solo exhibition at Flanagan Partners LLP in New Orle- lished a new book, Show Up Hard: A of monotypes, “Tour Guide,” was dis- ans, was named in the “Band Š” list for Road Map for Helpers in Crisis. Based at played at Cole Pratt Gallery this fall. general commercial litigation in Loui- the University of California–San Fran- Her drawing is also the cover art for siana, in the ˜šŠ¬ Chambers Guide to the cisco, she is the founder and director of Sweet Spots: In Between Spaces in New Top Lawyers and Law Firms in the USA. PleasePrEPMe.org and the creator of Orleans, a collection of essays on the New LoveYou˜.org. JON LEWIS B ’, a partner in the law Orleans urban landscape published by £rm of Lewis and Feldman LLC recently TOM WAGUESPACK A&S ’ recently Mississippi University Press. joined –e Neutral Solution, a mediation published his debut novel, Sigimmortal, JOSÉ R COT  A&S ’ L ’, a partner MUSIC ... AND MURDER £rm in Birmingham, Alabama. with Alban Lake Publishing. –e novel at Hurley & Cot, APLC, in New Orle- In September ELLEN SEIDEMAN combines elements of steampunk, science ans, moderated “Federal District Courts (N ’77), who writes as Ellen 1990 £ction and historical £ction. Byron, published Fatal Cajun in Louisiana: Di•erences and Practice 1999 Pointers,” a panel discussion sponsored Festival, the fifth book in her award-winning Cajun Country by the New Orleans Chapter of the Mystery series. A former cater- DEBORAH CZERE BIG SCORE Federal Bar Association. waiter for Martha Stewart, New York-based artist SKO G ’ BRIG GEN PAUL FRIEDRICHS A&S ’ Seideman will also debut her recently won the glassblowing Seven-year-old recently became the joint sta• surgeon Catering Hall Mysteries series next competition on the Net°ix reality series Walker Richardson, year. She lives in Los Angeles. for the Joint Chiefs of Sta• at the Pen- “Blown Away.” Her works are also on son of ANGELIQUE tagon, where he provides oversight of display in the exhibition “New Glass DAIGLE RICHARD- Now,” a global study of contemporary operational medicine for the Department SON (B ’01) and WIL of Defense. glass at the Corning Museum of Glass his husband, Christopher Bellonci, MD, in Corning, New York. RICHARDSON (B HEATHER MCARN NC ’ ’99), recovered three joined the live in Boston and Truro, Massachusetts. EDUARDO A FEBLES A&S ’ New York o·ce of Hinshaw & Culb- pub- home run balls during Registered architect JAMES SMITH A ’ ertson in October ˜šŠ¬ as a partner in the lished his English translation of Patrick a second-inning run in ’, AIA, joined the Baltimore o·ce of Consumer Financial Services Practice. Autéaux’s novel, In the Valley of Tears, Quinn Evans Architects. With nearly a baseball game against She was previously the chief of sta• and this fall. He is an associate professor and ˜š years of experience, Smith has com- Southeastern Louisiana special counsel to the superintendent co-chair of modern languages and liter- pleted numerous new construction, University on April 9. of the New York State Department of ature at Simmons University in Boston. renovation and adaptive use projects. In that inning, Tulane Financial Services. –e American Academy of Appellate His portfolio includes the transfor- scored an unprecedent- Lawyers, a leading national legal organi- EDOUARD FONTENOT A&S ’ is chief mation of a ¬š-year-old grain elevator zation, presented BLAKE A HAWTHORNE ed three home runs, for clinical officer at Commonwealth into the Silo Point residences and the A&S ’, the Texas Supreme Court’s a total of seven runs. Psychology Services LLC, a multidis- award-winning Clipper Mill redevelop- clerk of the court, with the Kathleen ciplinary psychology services practice in ment in Baltimore, and the expansion McCree Lewis Award for Appellate Boston, Newton, Wellesley and Cam- and renovation of the Banneker Dou- Justice at its conference in April. bridge, Massachusetts. He also earned a glass Museum in Annapolis. ISABEL GONZÁLEZ WHITAKER NC ’ Master of Divinity and a PhD. He and ANDREW WALSH A&S ’ has joined the law £rm Wilson Elser as an attorney in was recently appointed to the new role the Birmingham, Alabama, o·ce. His of senior advisor, corporate social respon- practice focuses on the defense of regis- sibility, for St. Jude Children’s Research tered motor carriers and their commercial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She drivers. Wilson Elser is a founding mem- was selected as a ˜šŠ‰ Presidential Lead- ENGINEERING PROFESSOR HAS WHO’S WHO ership Scholar, as supported by presidents OF FORMER STUDENTS ber of Legalign Global, a close alliance of four of the world’s leading insurance Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, for Robert Bruce, professor emeritus, Department of Civil and Envi- law £rms. creating the award-winning Sara J. ronmental Engineering, has taught a few engineering alumni who STEFANIE BROWN NAUMANN NC ’ González Memorial Park, the £rst park have been in the news: GEN. DAVID BERGER (E ’81), the newly , in Georgia named for a Latino. In ˜šŠ¬, a professor of management in the assigned commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, businessman and after leaving her role as deputy editor Eberhardt School of Business at the of Billboard magazine, she served as the Olympic sailor JOHN DANE III (E ’72, ’75) and astronaut DOUG University of the Paci£c in Stockton, HURLEY (E ’88). Bruce also counts among his former students Mike Curb Institute Scholar in Resi- California, co-authored a book with her dence at Rhodes College in Memphis. Tulane biomedical engineering Professor of Practice KATHERINE late grandfather called How Languages MARIA GAZTAMBIDE B ’ G ’ SLA RAYMOND (E ’99, ’07), who leads a program improving health Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival. ’ care in remote villages in Peru, and businessman ROBERT S. Orphaned in Poland at age Š¨, Tadeusz is the inaugural director and chief BOH (E ’80, ’81), who served as Rex during “Tad” Haska survived World War II on curator for public art for the University of Mardi Gras 2019. the run, narrowly evading the Nazis every Houston System. Gaztambide published two books in ˜šŠ¬: El Techo de la Ballena: “It’s been wonderful to watch where my students’ careers and step of the way. After the war, he daringly escaped jail by the Soviet Secret Police, Retro-Modernity in Venezuela and On Site: activities take them,” Bruce said. °ed to Sweden and launched an elaborate ‹Œ Years of Public Art of the University of plan to smuggle his wife in a co·n on Houston System. One of her essays also an all-male naval ship.

42 ulanian agazine  2019 What impact did your Tulane education have on your career? Did you meet a future business partner? Take a class that changed your career direction?

I was a junior at Tulane and I saw in the Hullabaloo that one of my business idols, a noted sports lawyer, was going to be teaching a sports law class in the law school. Who do you think was in the front row of his class, every Monday night, for two straight years? And for zero credit? He hired me at the end of my senior year and changed my life overnight. We are in touch to this day. Meg Meurer Brossy (UC ’82)

IMPRESSION the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier book explores the Baby Doll tradition and its University of Louisiana. As a feminist scholar, evolution to the modern day. KIM VA Z- she has contemplated the ways in which Afri- The Louisiana State Museum also pre- can American women have created their own sented an exhibition, “–ey Call Me Baby Doll: DEVILLE traditions and made a mark on New Orleans. A Mardi Gras Tradition,” at the Presbytere Vaz-Deville became particularly interested in ˜šŠ¨, based on Vaz-Deville’s research. –is s a child, Kim Vaz-Deville (NC ’‰Š, in the Baby Dolls, groups of working-class collaborative spirit led to Vaz-Deville’s ˜šŠ‰ G ’‰¨) spent many hours at her grand- women who began masking for Carnival publication, Walking Raddy: e Baby Dolls of A parents’ and great-grandparents’ around Š¬Š˜. Dressed in baby doll costumes of New Orleans, a collection of essays and visual I came to Tulane after being double on North Claiborne Avenue in New short dresses, garters and bonnets, these women art by New Orleans scholars and artists. recruited by the Army ROTC would strut and shake as they walked down the Traditionally, masking groups only came Orleans,program. and I nevershe remembers expected to vividly the hus- tle and bustle of that vibrant neighborhood. street, singing bawdy songs. –ey de£ed social out for Mardi Gras and St. Joseph’s Night, but make the Army Reserves a career norms and the traditional perception of the today there are over a dozen Baby Doll groups Growingchoice. Now, up in23 theyears ’»šs later, and I’m ’®šs, an Vaz-Deville experienced the rise of African American place of women of color in society. who also participate in Jazz Fest, Satchmo Army colonel, recently completed “You could contrast [the Baby Dolls] with SummerFest, funerals and parties. As a new politicalmy doctorate and social in public power, health, but also witnessed the devastation of the Claiborne Avenue com- black people’s [customary] participation in generation of Baby Dolls revives the tradition started teaching future healthcare Mardi Gras as servants at balls and as °am- in New Orleans, Vaz-Deville sees connections munityadministrators that resulted and am from launching the construction of Interstate Highway Šš. She recalls sadly how beaux carriers … they weren’t allowed to go on that are meaningful for this century. a new venture to help seniors age Canal Street, so they made their own Mardi “It’s a new cultural era where people have Mardisafely atGras home. masking I’d say traditionsaccepting awaned within the black community. Gras,” Vaz-Deville said. more opportunities,” she said. “–ey are form- seat with the Class of 1996 was a Vaz-Deville’s curiosity about these strong, ing a sisterhood; they are there to support and Aftergreat completing choice for undergraduate me! and grad- uateCaroline work at PoggeTulane, (NC Vaz-Deville ’96) earned her de£ant women led her to write e Baby Dolls: celebrate each other.” PhD from Indiana University, and is now a Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the professor of education and associate dean of New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition (˜šŠ¨). –e

PHOTO BY PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO 43 IMPRESSION BILL GROOM

s a child growing up in California, Missouri, Bill Groom (G ’®™) used his imagination to entertain his A family at his grandmother’s house every other Sunday with self-produced plays in the living room and the occasional circus in the backyard. He would rearrange furniture and use household textiles to create sets, and he and his cousin Connie would star. At the time it was just a hobby and not intended to be the start of a career path, but “turns out it was.” Groom has since launched a highly suc- cessful and illustrious career as a production designer and art director for both television and £lm. He has worked with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ryan Murphy and most recently Amy Sherman-Palladino on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (for which he drew inspiration from his own nostalgia for “old New York”). He has also designed for “Saturday Night Live” (during the time of Gilda Radner and Eddie Murphy) and “Boardwalk Empire,” for which he won four Primetime Emmys. Having originally planned on majoring in art, Groom’s need for structure and story led him to study theater as an undergradu- ate. He was o•ered an assistantship and full scholarship to Tulane’s graduate school after being scouted by the then-chair of the theater department at a regional undergrad competi- tion. He recounted that at this time, the theater department was housed in a wooden World tests for the union, he landed the art director happened after he turned »š. He feels grate- War II-surplus building at the front of campus job at “Saturday Night Live,” where he “learned ful to have had opportunities to work on very near St. Charles Avenue. to work really fast.” Not long after that, he was di•erent projects throughout his career (such After graduating from Tulane with an MFA, o•ered what he considers to be his big break as as “Boardwalk” vs. “Mrs. Maisel”). Asked what Groom took a teaching position at Stony Brook production designer for A League of eir Own, kind of project(s) might be up next, he said that University (just outside New York City). Four and the rest is history. he is just happy working. years later he moved into the city to freelance, “My career’s never been better,” Groom “You just see what’s in front of you and and after passing the required scenic design said, before stating that most of his success make a choice.”

44 ulanian agazine  2019 PHOTO BY AMYJC OLIVERA/WIREIMAGE SUSSMAN/GETTY IMAGES TULANIANS continued

Fogarty Global Health Fellow with the ALEXANDRA PICHETTE NC ’ of Mor- University of North Carolina–Chapel gan, Brown & Joy was recognized by GRADS CONTINUE TO BUILD TOGETHER Hill, working in Kinshasa, Democratic ˜šŠ¬ Massachusetts Super Lawyers as a Republic of Congo. Rising Star. Rising Star candidates must The Tulane School of Architecture gave rise to a network of be younger than ™š years old or have been Tulane alumni with ties to Los Angeles. DAVID THOMPSON Los Angeles-based artist BETSY ENZENS BERGER NC ’ in practice for Šš years or fewer. (A ’91) of Assembledge+, an architect whose firm specializes in graduated with a degree VIRGINIA CAILLETEAU SW ’ high-end residences and hospitality spaces, recently joined the in abstract painting and a minor in is a board of the School of Architecture. Thompson previously prac- molecular biology. Her artwork falls licensed independent clinical social within the pop art genre; she sculpts worker in Olympia, Washington. She ticed in New York City with SCOTT SATIN (A ’90), who is now small and large resin Popsicle sculptures. provides clinical services to an agency a biotelemetry entrepreneur. Thompson recently helped Satin Her solo show in Hamburg, Germany, participating in the –urston-Mason remodel his Washington, D.C., home. Thompson also works with sold out completely on opening night. County Behavioral Health Organization renowned Los Angeles interior designer JAMIE BUSH (A ’93) on and also operates a small private clinical SARAH TRAVIS NC ’ is an assistant many high-profile projects. And finally, HAILY ZAKI (NC ’99), a practice in nearby Tacoma, Washington. professor of art education at the Uni- Los Angeles-based creative communications executive, works with versity of Illinois–Champaign-Urbana. Thompson’s firm, Assembledge+, as a client. She earned her PhD from the University of North Texas in ˜šŠ‰. MAJ DAVID LEIVA UC ’ was deployed with Š‰™th Sustainment Command to appeared in Contesting Modernity: Infor- just published her £rst book, Sharing Camp Ari¿an, Kuwait, as the Headquar- malism in Venezuela, ‘’‹‹–‘’”‹. Stories, Making Memories: A Journal for ters Company commander. In August he Grandparents and Grandchildren. PETER LOWY L ’ shareholder in the received the Meritorious Service Medal. MADELINE VANN PHTM ’ Houston o·ce of Chamberlain Hrdlicka, recently LESLEY MCCALL GROSSBERG NC ’ has recently received the Houston Vol- completed a Master of Education from and BENJAMIN GROSSBERG TC ’ wel- EARTH-FRIENDLY unteer Lawyers Award for Outstanding William & Mary and is now a resident comed Zelda Lorraine Grossberg on AARON HOOPES (A&S ’86), Pro Bono Achievement. –rough Hous- in counseling at –e Farley Center, a Oct. Š™, ˜šŠ‰. She joins older brother ton Volunteer Lawyers, Lowy provided residential addiction treatment facility the founder of Zen Yoga in Trevor Brennan. The family resides Vermont, published a new book, support to a fellow volunteer attorney in Williamsburg, Virginia. in Philadelphia. on a pro bono tax case. –e pair helped Reconnecting to the Earth: KAREN ROSS NC ’ Reclaiming Our Relationship a client £le suit for refund in the United is a zookeeper 2000 to Nature and Ourselves, this at Audubon Nature Institute in New States District Court for –e Southern 2009 summer. He has also written District of Texas and upon successful Orleans and is also a graduate student books on yoga, mindfulness resolution obtained more than ¾˜šš,ššš in Miami University’s Global Field Pro- and meditation. in refund checks from the IRS. DR SOPHIA OMORO G ’ M ’, visited gram. –is summer she studied Maasai BRIAN STAFFORD M ’ PHTM ’ the downtown campus to give a lecture communities and sustainable approaches left to human/wildlife coexistence in Kenya. his position as the Anschutz Family titled “How Signi£cant Are You?” to the Chair in Perinatal and Early Child- Tulane Group on Women in Medicine hood Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital and Science. Omoro, a native of Kenya Colorado to retrain as an eco-depth who is now an otolaryngology surgeon in Lima, Ohio, is also a social entrepreneur, psychologist and wilderness guide. He HONORARY ALUMNI recently founded Wilderness Is Medicine having created Blooming Lily, a founda- to support nature-based resilience and tion established to empower young girls. The Tulane Alumni Association recognized the outstanding leadership for healthcare providers. He She is CEO and sole designer behind devotion of five university employees by naming them as hon- is also the vice president of the Califor- “odAOMO,” (–e House of Aomo), a line orary alumni at a reception in November. Each of the individuals nia Teachers College and co-founder of modern women’s wear that supports honored have helped to shape the university for at least 25 years. of Seminary of the Wild, as well as improved social and economic conditions The new honorary alumni include OLIVE DAW, a member of the in Kenya through opportunity. a guide and trainer with the Animas Tulane University Police Department for 37 years; LEE HAMM, Valley Institute. He guides primarily in KENNETH ROHMAN B ’ has been senior vice president and dean of the School of Medicine, who Ojai, California. named chief marketing o·cer of Wind has been a faculty member there for 27 years; FAINA LUSHTAK, DEREK HOEFERLIN A ’ has been Creek Hospitality, overseeing global mar- a member of the faculty since 1981, who serves as the Downman named chair of the landscape architec- keting operations for the organization’s Professor of Music and leads the piano division of the Newcomb Šš casinos and resorts throughout North ture and urban design programs in the Department of Music; GAIL MAST, who has been with Tulane for America and the Caribbean. He lives Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts 29 years and has established a comprehensive infrastructure that in Alabama. at Washington University in St. Louis. played an essential role in the university’s successful fundraising Hoeferlin joined the university in ˜šš¤ KRISTIN BANEK PHTM ’ just com- efforts; and women’s basketball coach LISA STOCKTON, who in and has expertise in water management pleted her PhD at the London School of her 25 years at Tulane has led the Green Wave to the postseason systems and adaptive land strategies. Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her dis- on 18 separate occasions. SCARLET PAOLICCHI A&S ’, Nash- sertation evaluated adherence to malaria ville-based founder of Family Focus Blog, medications in children under ¤ in Free- town, Sierra Leone. She is now an NIH

45 TULANIANS continued

Glenn D Whiteman B ’ Adrian J Combe III E ’ 2010 Farewell 2019 Mathews Benzaquen A&S ’ J M Gregory M ’ We say goodbye to Tulanians whose Frederick R Bott B ’ L ’ William T Mason Jr G ’ deaths were reported to us during the BENNETT ROGERS SLA ’ was recently Robert H Brumfield Jr A&S ’ M ’ Lester R Schmidt A&S ’ past quarter hired as the liquid fuel manager for Black T Harris A&S ’ Jo Ann Judge Anderson NC ’ Rock City Department of Public Works, Sue Strahan Gladden NC ’ Burning Man Project, in Nevada. E E McNaughton Jr A ’ Edward K Caldwell B ’ Theodore H Dexter A&S ’ G ’ MICHAEL B GREENBERG SLA ’ of A B Russell Jr M ’ Eugene E Cobb UC ’ Ralph N Jackson L ’ Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP Louis M Bravo B ’ V G Rufi M ’ practices intellectual property and com- Mildred Levitan Krieger NC ’ L ’ mercial litigation in Fort Lauderdale, Robin C Brown A&S ’ M ’ Robert C Barker Jr M ’ William T Patton Sr A&S ’ M ’ Florida. His article, “What Wearable George Y Kimura A&S ’ L ’ Richard J Boutall A&S ’ L ’ Tech Could Mean for Sports: A Lesson Dorothy Eaves Kostmayer NC ’ From the Alliance of American Football,” Henry E Markel Jr E ’ Douglas Crimp A&S ’ Marion Wilbert Benbow NC ’ was published in the August ˜šŠ¬ issue Joel Grossman Myers NC ’ G ’ Mary Jones Marques PHTM ’ of e Licensing Journal. Louise Munson Dupont NC ’ William W Watson B ’ L ’ Grant B Hieshima M ’ SARA MUCHNICK SLA ’ married Isaac Clifton L Ganus Jr G ’ ’ Zafarani on Sept. ‰ in New York City. Jerome N Conger PHTM ’ William H Atkinson A&S ’ Lee R Ledbetter B ’ The wedding party included fellow Robert E Jones A&S ’ M ’ Charles L Lutz M ’ Tulane alumni MORGAN WINSTON B Catherine Bensabat Schneider NC ’ ’, ZACHARY SPERLING SLA ’, ELLY Claude L Kohler II B ’ Julene Mayewski UC ’ HOWARD SLA ’ SAM CHASSE SLA ’ Cyrus D Crites A&S ’ , Anthony Sachitano Jr UC ’ Leamon E Howell B ’ and BRYN MCKERNAN SLA ’. Thomas N Lennox A&S ’ Royden B Wonder B ’ Kathleen Rogge NC ’ L ’ MAX GOODMAN SLA ’ recently started Mary Holmes Stephens NC ’ an online jewelry store with his mother Mary de la Houssaye Baron NC ’ Sarent Sarntinoranont PHTM ’ Charlton H Lyons Jr L ’ called –e Jewel in Giving. –e phil- Gerald R Fucich E ’ Frank P Battard A&S ’ anthropic business gives Š˜.¤Â of every Irwin Reicher A&S ’ purchase to a charity chosen by the buyer. Sara Merritt A&S ’ William H Cahill Jr G ’ Robert F Cahn Sr B ’ KELLYN MORRIS SLA ’ has been Michael R Romano B ’ Josephine Church SW ’ Sam J Mattina B ’ selected to participate in the Television Leon H Russell Jr PHTM ’ Philip J Dorsey B ’ Academy Foundation’s ˜šŠ¬ Internship James H Stroud L ’ Program. She is one of just ¤š students Caroline von Rosenberg NC ’ James H Douglass SW ’ John H Tucker SW ’ chosen from across the country for John T Siegwart G ’ Edward H Miler B ’ the program. Max Bruck SW ’ Elizabeth Warren Dimitry NC ’ Susan Fine Naughton UC ’ Vivian Gussin Paley NC ’ T E Newton Sr UC ’ Joseph V Guillotte III G ’ Simon Shlenker III B ’ Jan N Ogletree A&S ’ Gerald V Williams Sr PHTM ’ William L Crull III B ’ Wayne F Cooper A&S ’ G ’ Glenn J Boquet A&S ’ Ann Anderson Morris A&S ’ Guillermo N de Falcon G ’ ’ Roseanne Gerone Leediker NC ’ G ’ Isabel Peal Posner NC ’ Miguel I EstradaSamano L ’ Michael D Meyer L ’ Harold J Trepagnier Sr A&S ’ E J Grovier III A ’ Fernand J Milhas III A&S ’ C W Marionneaux A ’ Jay L Buckman Sr B ’ L ’ James W Ritter G ’ W R Newman B ’ James D Gatts M ’ Bruce F Brodney A&S ’ Waymond L Rone A&S ’ Jane Bishop Johnson NC ’ Michael R Seitzinger M ’ N Ward McCauley NC ’ Benjamin W Boyd Sr PHTM ’ Roland Von Kurnatowski Jr A&S ’ Wesley L McFarland Sr M ’ B ’ L ’ Eileen Link Broadwater NC ’ Paul J Bowron Jr A&S ’ W A Bryant Jr G ’ Barry M Fox Sr A ’ Jack E Hale M ’ Paul L Rubin A&S ’ Barbara Lee Montgomery G ’ H I Marcus B ’ Priscilla Domingue Tircuit NC ’ Ronald L Naquin A&S ’ L ’ Donald A Pavy M ’ John T Barnes II E ’ W L Barlow A&S ’ Alfred L Robelot Sr A&S ’ Larry E Clowers G ’ Charles R Bigelow M ’

46 ulanian agazine  2019 Gordon K Travers L ’ Justin A Borra A&S ’ KEY TO SCHOOLS Joan Dunaway Keenan NC ’ William P O’Dowd A ’ SLA (School of Liberal Arts) A&S (College of Arts and Sciences, the men’s liberal arts SSE (School of Science and Engineering) and sciences college that existed until 1994) Stephen P Turner A&S ’ Jon K Van Valkenburg M ’ A (School of Architecture) TC (Tulane College, the men’s liberal arts and sciences college that existed from 1994 until 2006) B (A. B. Freeman School of Business) Rosemarie HartwichYoung NC ’ G ’ Joyce Burgin Storehalder SW ’ NC (Newcomb College, the women’s liberal arts and L (Law School) sciences college that existed until 2006) Victor D Gonzalez M ’ Jeffrey P Straesser A ’ M (School of Medicine) E (School of Engineering) SW (School of Social Work) G (Graduate School) James W Marks B ’ Jeffrey M Duperon UC ’ PHTM (School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine) UC (University College, the school for part-time adult SoPA (School of Professional Advancement) learners. The college’s name was changed to the School Cindy Ross Schoenberger A ’ Nicholas Tsoudis L ’ of Continuing Studies in 2006.) SCS (School of Continuing Studies, which changed its name Harold M Thiedeman UC ’ William G Powell PHTM ’ to the School of Professional Advancement in 2017.) Mark F Gourley M ’ Nosakhare O Ekunwe E ’ Thomas A Guarisco B ’ PHTM ’ Dalton L Truax Jr TC ’ Leslie Hodge NC ’ Kyle R Alt SSE ’ William A Oliver B ’ Parker B Prince SoPA ’

TRIBUTE to complete it. I eventually received an invitation to travel to Boston. Dr. Kilroy’s act of kindness and con- JA MES F. cern transformed my future. Dr. Kilroy followed my plans with interest, asking KILROY how we could improve the undergraduate experience at Tulane. In my junior year, I was elected president ames F. Kilroy, Tulane provost, dean and of the Tulane College of Arts and Sciences Senate, emeritus English professor, passed away on which brought the college unexpected media atten- June Š¨, ˜šŠ¬, in New Orleans. With a life tion. I had become the senate’s £rst African American Jdedicated to teaching the liberal arts, Dr. Kil- president, and part of my success came from Dr. Kil- roy taught me and others who had the opportunity roy making me feel welcome as a student. His style to know him one of the most important life lessons: of counseling would be a model for others to help Success is simply being a friend and leaving the world £rst-generation college students succeed. a little better than you found it. His leadership in the After I attended medical school and practiced for Tulane community made a di•erence in my life and a few years on the East Coast, I eventually returned made Tulane a better institution. to Louisiana. Dr. Kilroy and I would have lunch We £rst met in Š¬‰™, when I was a student. He was and continue our conversations. We pondered the the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. problems of New Orleans and the world. We dis- His personality would readily put someone at ease. cussed whether we as a community were achieving His informal manner made him an authority £gure progress in social justice and equity of opportunity. I who was inviting but not intimidating. When our learned that his life experiences as the son of a labor paths crossed, we would talk about family, school- union leader and as a commuter student at DePaul work and campus life. –e conversations could last University in Chicago prompted his compassionate £ve minutes or one hour — regardless, you were his leadership. He empathized with the challenges and center of attention. obstacles of the poor and working class. His support would ultimately open the door for His impact on Tulane has made it a small oasis for me to attend medical school. During my sophomore students from Louisiana and around the world. His year, Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard University spoke example showed me how one can conduct one’s life at one of our Black History Month programs and to change the destiny of an individual, a community suggested I apply for his internship program for and the world. premedical students. It was late in the application –ank you, Dr. Kilroy. process, with a ˜™-hour deadline. I ran to Dr. Kil- roy’s o·ce and asked for a letter of recommendation, —Ernest Sneed, MD (A&S ’š›), is a staž physician which was due the next day. He blocked out time at the New Orleans Veterans Ažairs Medical Center.

47 VIEWPOINT WHAT HAPPENS AT TULANE DOESN’T STAY AT TULANE…

BY MIKE FITTS, President

ulane University is a force for good at the local, regional and “Tglobal levels.” at is the main takeaway of a recently released study on Tulane’s economic impact. is report (see “Ripple Eect,” on page ) reveals that Tulane’s operations, capital investments and other activities contribute ­€.‚ƒ billion to the Louisiana Tulane graduates stride with confidence into the world after the commencement ceremony in 2017. economy each year and are responsible for more than ‚ , jobs statewide, including ‚€, €ƒ jobs in New Orleans. e university Protecting our hometown eventually grew Since š, Tulanians have founded also attracts ­€‚ million in spending by into a multimillion-dollar research enter- at least €›› companies, a third of which visiting parents, alumni, potential students prise that seeks cures globally. are located in the New Orleans area. is and patients. Tulane’s importance to New Orleans ranks Tulane ‚st nationwide in business In other words, what happens at Tulane and the surrounding region was reaf - incubation, just below Duke and above — our scholarship, research, recruiting, firmed after Hurricane Katrina when NYU, Dartmouth and Northwestern. innovations and more — has a far- we reoriented our curriculum to ensure Building our region’s workforce, spur- reaching economic and social impact on that students applied the knowledge and ring the startup boom in Louisiana, pre- our city, state and world. is was true skills acquired in the classroom to help our paring the entrepreneurs, creators and the long before Tulane became the economic struggling city and state recover. artists of our future, and adding employee engine it is today. That commitment to public service compensation of nearly ­›Ž› million to From our founding in ‚Ž€ƒ by seven remains stronger than ever today and is the local economy, which leads to higher young doctors determined to eradicate now coupled with the transformative eco- employment overall, is all part of our tropical diseases from their hometown, nomic impact of a major research university. growing role in the future of Louisiana. Tulane has always been an outward facing America is replete with cities that have been All businesses have some economic institution. What our founders discovered renewed, reenergized and reborn by the impact. But at Tulane everything we do about New Orleans’ annual epidemics presence and power of anchor institutions goes back to the community — from brought a wealth of knowledge to regions such as universities. is is nowhere truer improving K-‚ education to training around the world facing similar threats. than in post–post-Katrina New Orleans. the next generation of local doctors; from studying the best method of rebuilding our coast to creating a more educated populace; from preserving folkways to bringing in fresh new talent. And our economic impact will only increase in What happens at Tulane — our the future as we add a new science dis- trict and residential quad to the uptown scholarship, research, recruiting, campus, expand our downtown campus, and attract more top talent to power New innovations and more — has a far- Orleans- and Louisiana-based medical advances, technology, innovation, creativity reaching economic and social impact and discovery. “What happens here, stays here,” is a on our city, state and world. good slogan for some places — but not for our university or hometown.

48 ulanian agazine  2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY CHERYL GERBER March 19|20|21 2020

Join us! In March 2020, The New Orleans Book Festival will bring the world’s leading authors to Tulane University for a multiday celebration of their works. The Festival will feature both fiction and nonfiction and convene readings, panel discussions, symposia and keynote speeches. It will also provide an opportunity for authors and readers to interact with each other in one of the most vibrant and culturally diverse cities in the world.

bookfest.tulane.edu | @nolabookfest March 19|20|21 2020

Join us! In March 2020, The New Orleans Book Festival will bring the world’s leading authors to Tulane University for a multiday celebration of their works. The Festival will feature both fiction and nonfiction and convene readings, panel discussions, symposia and keynote speeches. It will also provide an opportunity for authors and readers to interact with each other in one of the most vibrant and culturally diverse cities in the world.

bookfest.tulane.edu | @nolabookfest Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID 6823 St. Charles Avenue PPCO New Orleans, LA 70118-5624

ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED

Holiday decorations on a home in the 1300 block of Chartres Street add a festive flair to the French Quarter neighborhood. The salmon-colored shotgun house is decorated with a garland of extra-large decorative lights and pine branches.

PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID 6823 St. Charles Avenue PPCO New Orleans, LA 70118-5624

ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED

Holiday decorations on a home in the ­€€ block of Chartres Street add a festive air to the French Quarter neighborhood. ‰e salmon-colored shotgun house is decorated with a garland of extra-large decorative lights and pine branches.

PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO