PEOPLE

TULANE IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS TULANIANS.

AND WHAT TULANIANS THEY ARE! OUR WORLD-

CLASS FACULTY PERFORMS RESEARCH THAT

SOLVES SOME OF OUR WORLD’S MOST VEXING

PROBLEMS. THEY TEACH STUDENTS TO LOVE

KNOWLEDGE AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT

KNOWLEDGE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. THEIR

MENTORSHIP CHANGES LIVES AND IMPACTS

COMMUNITIES IN COUNTLESS WAYS.

IT IS THROUGH THE ENDOWED CHAIRS AND

PROFESSORSHIPS PROPELLED FORWARD

BY OUR DEDICATED DONORS THAT WE ARE

ABLE TO BRING SUCH EXTRAORDINARY

INDIVIDUALS TO TULANE. WE ARE ABLE TO

EDUCATE TOMORROW’S LEADERS, STRENGTHEN

OUR COMMUNITY AND BUILD OUR SHARED FUTURE

DUE TO THE FORWARD-THINKING INDIVIDUALS

WHO FURTHER ELEVATE THE TULANE COMMUNITY

BY BRINGING THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST TO CAMPUS

THROUGH THEIR DEDICATED SUPPORT.

Doris Seelig Davis

A third generation native of New Orleans, Doris Seelig Davis graduated with a BFA from Newcomb College in 1948. While a student at Tulane, she met her future husband, Richard G. Davis, who received a degree in English literature and physics from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1948 and a master’s degree in physics and engineering in 1949.

Doris and Rick married on January 3, 1950 and moved to Chicago, where Rick took his first job with a firm that was one of the first to explore the manufacture of MRIs for medical testing. When Rick accepted a position with the National Bureau of Standards, Doris and Rick moved to Washington, D.C., and later to Southern California and Tucson. The family eventually made a home in San Jose, where Doris still lives.

Doris is the owner of Doris Davis, Inc., a real estate investment company, and she serves as a public trustee of the American Beethoven Society. She has a son, Richard S. Davis, MD, a 1977 graduate of the Tulane School of Medicine, a daughter, Deborah A. Davis, four grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

After a successful career in engineering, coupled with a lifelong commitment to family and to civic engagement, Rick passed away in 2016. Doris chose to honor her husband’s legacy by creating the Richard G. Davis Fellowship Endowed Fund, which affords exceptional graduate students the opportunity to study at Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering.

Michelle Sainer Diener and Robert B. Diener

A member of the Tulane Board, Michelle Diener graduated from the A. B. Freeman School of Business in 1984 with a BS in Management, later earning a Master of Accounting from the University of Florida. She is an active Tulane alumna, currently serving as chair of the Tulane President’s Council, as a member of the Parents Council and as co-chair of the South Florida National Campaign Council for the Only the Audacious campaign.

Michelle is a certified public accountant and the former chief financial officer of Hotel Reservations Network, the predecessor to Hotels.com. With a deep commitment to her hometown of Miami, Florida, Michelle is an engaged civic leader, serving on the boards of the Jewish Community Services of South Florida, Inc., the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Miami Children’s Museum and the Lehrman Community Day School.

A pioneer in the hotel consolidation and online travel industry, Robert (Bob) Diener, a graduate of Cornell Law School and former editor of the Cornell Law Review, is the co-founder of Hotels.com and co-founder and executive chairman of getaroom.com. Bob is a national board member of Israel Bonds, Chabad on Campus, Hasbara Fellowships and an immediate past national board member of Aipac.

Together, the Dieners direct their family’s philanthropic giving as trustees for the Robert and Michelle Diener Foundation. They reside in Miami Beach, Florida and have five children, one of whom is Joshua, a current Tulane undergraduate.

At Tulane, Michelle and Bob established the Diener Family Endowed Fund for Student Success, which supports professional success coaching, peer coaching and staff professional development, and promotes the development of academic, career and life skills of Tulane’s undergraduate students.

David R. Flowerree and Jane S. Flowerree

David Reily Flowerree and Jane Shatten Flowerree met as students at Tulane Law School. David, who earned his BA from the College of Arts and Sciences, and Jane, who earned a BA from Kenyon College, both graduated with a JD from Tulane Law School in 1977.

The Flowerree family has a long history of involvement at Tulane. David’s father, Robert E. Flowerree, Jr., was a 1942 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences and later served on the Tulane Board of Administrators, receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1978. His mother, Elaine Dicks Flowerree, was a 1944 graduate of Newcomb College. David’s sister, Ann D. Flowerree, is a 1969 graduate of Newcomb College, and his brother, Robert E. Flowerree III, was a 1967 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences.

David and Jane currently live in Atlanta, Georgia where David, now retired, was first vice president at Morgan Stanley. Jane and David have two daughters, Laura and Christine, and four grandchildren.

David and Jane have endowed two newly established professorships, one in the School of Liberal Arts and one in the School of Science and Engineering. The David and Jane Flowerree Professorship in Environmental Studies and Public Policy and the David and Jane Flowerree Professorship in River-Coastal Science and Engineering are aimed at exploring policies and finding solutions to the environmental crises facing Louisiana and other areas threatened by rising seas, warming temperatures and weatherdriven disasters. David and Jane’s generous gift to the university will help Tulane generate actionable solutions to the challenges of climate change in coastal regions, promoting science-based environmental policies in Louisiana and beyond.

Richard M. Lerner

An alumnus of Tulane University, Richard M. Lerner received his BA in political science from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1981 and his MBA in finance from the A. B. Freeman School of Business in 1983. He was Editor-in-Chief of The Tulane Hullabaloo in 1979-80. Since 2012, he has served as a member of the Tulane President’s Council.

Rick is a retired banker, having served as chairman and chief executive officer of Annapolis Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary bank, BankAnnapolis, until the bank was acquired by F.N.B. Corporation (FNB) in 2013. He then served as chairman of the Maryland Region of First National Bank of Pennsylvania, FNB’s principal subsidiary.

Committed to his community of Annapolis, Maryland, Rick has served on the board of Anne Arundel County Court Appointed Special Advocates and was appointed by the governor to the board of the Maryland Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority. For many years he chaired the boards of Hospice of the Chesapeake and its Foundation, and the Foundation for Community Partnerships (now known as Chesapeake Charities).

In honor of his late father, Rick has endowed the Lawrence E. Lerner Presidential Chair in Aging at Tulane, devoted to increasing scientific understanding of aging and longevity and advancing research that leads to healthier, happier and more productive lifespans.

Strive Foundation

Founded by E. Roe Stamps, IV and Penelope “Penny” W. Stamps, the Strive Foundation supports exceptional students in their pursuit of higher education. The Foundation’s Stamps Scholars program, which launched in 2006, has offered merit scholarships to more than 2,000 students at partner colleges and universities, including Tulane.

Roe has led a distinguished career as a financier and venture capitalist. He is the co-founder and former managing director of Summit Partners, a Boston-based private investment company. A former Lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve, Roe holds a BS and an MS in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He is a trustee emeritus of the Georgia Tech Foundation, a trustee of the University of Miami, a former trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and he has served a multitude of other distinguished organizations as a volunteer leader. In 2010, Roe was honored by the American Red Cross South Florida Region as the Humanitarian of the Year. In 2012, he received the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School, its most prestigious honor, and in 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Georgia Tech.

A Chicago native and a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Art & Design, which now bears her name, Penny was a businesswoman, a teacher, a lover of the arts and animals, a community leader and a philanthropist. Penny founded—and, until the mid-1990’s, served as principal designer for—the Boston-based Penny W. Stamps Interiors. Penny’s philanthropic endeavors earned her numerous honors throughout her lifetime, among them being the University of Michigan’s 2005 David B. Hermelin Award for Volunteer Leadership, the 2013 National Philanthropy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2015, she was named an Honorary Alumna of Georgia Tech. Penny received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, the University of Michigan, and later that year, she passed away after a long battle with leukemia.

With support from the Strive Foundation, Stamps Scholars receive four-year, fullride scholarships to Tulane, which include tuition, books, room and board and fees. Stamps Scholars also receive funding for study abroad expenses, internships, academic conferences, co-curricular activities, leadership training and other enrichment opportunities.

M.B. and Edna Zale Foundation

Formed in 1951, the M.B. and Edna Zale Foundation is a family foundation named to honor the legacy of Morris and Edna Zale who spent their lives caring for those in need. Accordingly, the mission of the Foundation is to support individuals and families as they build productive and meaningful lives.

While based in Dallas, Texas, the Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the communities where Foundation families live, work or have interests. Grants primarily support education, early childhood development, job training, hunger and homelessness relief, health and Jewish culture and continuity.

A number of family members are Tulane alumni, including Karen Landsberg Seltzer, a 1983 graduate of Newcomb College; Dana Zale Gerard, a 1985 graduate of Newcomb College; Andrew Suzman, a 1989 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Ethan Rosenberg, a 2006 graduate of the A. B. Freeman School of Business.

The Foundation has supported a number of programs and initiatives at Tulane over the years. Most notable was the initiation, support and endowment of the Zale-Kimmerling Writer-In-Residence Program, capital campaign support and programming for Tulane Hillel, the Cowen Institute for Public Education and, most recently, support for the Only the Audacious campaign.

2016 ZALE-KIMMERLING WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM