Not for
oneself, but for
one’s
own.
ACADEMIC YEAR IN REVIEW 2019-2020
CLASS OF
2023 _____ 42,185
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
1,821
STUDENTS
13%
ACCEPTANCE RATE
1463
AVERAGE CONVERTED SAT SCORE
24.05% STUDENTS OF COLOR
BIG EASY SKYFALL Temporary classrooms adorn the Berger Family Lawn on Tulane University’s uptown campus. The new classrooms were designed and constructed to provide additional space to enable social distancing to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19.
The publication you are holding (or perhaps viewing online) is a triumph. It represents an
#
41
academic year cleaved in two, forever demarcated between the time before COVID-19
BEST NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES
to surrender.
__________
Tulane responded to COVID-19 like we’ve always responded to crisis — using our
NO.
and the months that followed. It also represents the response of a community that refuses
knowledge, expertise, wisdom and passion to improve the human condition. Our
researchers embarked on an effort to find treatments and a vaccine, while our medical professionals cared for COVID patients.
Our epidemiologists coordinated research efforts for the World Health Organization and
our medical students advised local businesses on safe ways to operate in a new normal. With one of the country’s most rigorous testing, tracing and isolation/quarantine programs, we launched a successful return to in-person classes for the fall semester.
But COVID wasn’t our only challenge. We continue to invest heavily in the pressing issue
3
BEST SCHOOLS FOR SERVICE LEARNING __________
#
20
BEST COLLEGES FOR VETERANS
of racial injustice by implementing new programs to increase our diversity, equity and
__________
students at a local plantation became an icon of the call for justice and equality.
NO.
inclusion and hiring our first Chief Diversity Officer. A photo of our Black medical
We continued to explore and to discover in all fields of knowledge and human enterprise, from brain science to solar energy to literature and the arts. We reached for the stars, literally, as Tulane graduate Doug Hurley commanded the first flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
We also had fun, welcoming our new class, hosting our first virtual graduation celebration and cheering on our beloved Green Wave. In a word, we masked up and moved forward … ever onward, ever Tulane.
44
BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAM
+ A SCORE
NO.
1
MOST ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY SERVICE __________
#
3
STUDENTS WHO LOVE THEIR SCHOOL __________
NO.
3
BEST COLLEGE CITY __________
#
3
HAPPIEST STUDENTS FOR COVID-19 DASHBOARD AND TESTING TRANSPARENCY ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 1
TAKING IT OUTSIDE Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah, chemistry professor at the School of Science and Engineering, leads a research group meeting for his lab team, The Jayawickramarajah Lab, at an outdoor classroom on the Pierson Patio while socially distancing and wearing masks. Pierson Patio was named in honor of alumna and past Board of Tulane chair Catherine Deming Pierson.
2 | ACADEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
Return to Campus
In August 2020, Tulane University welcomed new and returning students to campus for a fall semester like no other. Through rigorous safety protocols, a robust testing and contact tracing program and physical alterations to campus facilities, Tulane created an environment designed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community:
TU ARRIVAL CENTER The first stop before returning to campus in fall was the TU Arrival Center located in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown New Orleans. Students at the center had their temperatures checked, were tested for COVID-19 and participated in one-on-one health counseling and orientation sessions prior to moving into their on-campus residences.
TESTING & CONTACT TRACING PROGRAM Guided by the best public health experts in the field, Tulane opened three on-campus testing centers and implemented ongoing testing and daily COVID-19 self-screening for all students, faculty and staff on ground. Tulane’s contact tracing program swiftly identifies close contacts with those who have tested positive with COVID-19 to prevent transmission.
TULANE-HOSTED QUARANTINE & ISOLATION SPACES Paterson Residence Hall was established as an isolation space for all students who have tested positive in addition to quarantine space in the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown.
SAFETY PROTOCOLS Tulane implemented new safety procedures, including mask wearing, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and thorough cleaning measures for residence halls, classrooms and common areas. ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 3
TULANE’S FIRST EVER VIRTUAL ONLINE GRADUATION CELEBRATION President Fitts led a virtual online celebration on Saturday, May 16, that featured a star-studded cast of celebrities, business pioneers, sports stars and national leaders, including Madeleine Albright, Drew Brees, Hoda Kotb, Kelly Ripa, Apple CEO Tim Cook and many others who saluted Tulane graduates. The fête included the Tulane Alma Mater virtually performed by the Tulane Marching Band, video speeches from members of the Class of 2020, a message from Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robin Forman, and, most importantly, the conferral of degrees.
CONFETTI AND MORE President Fitts demonstrates how to use some of the items from the grad boxes that were sent to 2020 graduates to use during the online celebration. 4 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
A UNIQUE CONVOCATION This year’s President’s Convocation may have had a different look due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still provided the same warm welcome for the 1,800 new Tulane students who make up the Class of 2024. Traditionally held in McAlister Auditorium the day before fall classes begin, this year’s Convocation was held as a virtual event over a span of four days. There were several viewing sessions held in the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. This historic Tulane setting allowed the university to accommodate small groups of students in a socially distanced manner. Convocation was entirely in a video format projected on massive screens for students to watch. The video began with Dr. Michael White’s Original Liberty Jazz Band — staying true to how the traditional, in-person ceremony usually kicks off — and a procession of the university’s gonfalons representing each academic discipline. Then the Tulane Choir accompanied by the Tulane University Marching Band performed the alma mater. The Class of 2024 was greeted on video by Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Undergraduate Admission Satya Dattagupta, who stated that things this year may have gone off-course, but one thing has gone right: Tulane chose you, and you chose Tulane. After Dattagupta’s remarks, President Michael Fitts welcomed the class to their new home, and Provost Robin Forman and Newcomb-Tulane College Dean Lee Skinner followed Fitts’ remarks. In closing, Fitts invited students to use their umbrella, also placed at their seats, to join in with Tulane's second-line tradition.
ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 5
Of New Orleans, for the World COVID-19 Research VIRUS ORIGINS & TESTING Tulane virologist ROBERT GARRY, JR., PHD, and a team of scientists from Tulane, Scripps Research Institute, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh and University of Sydney analyzed the genome sequence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, and found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered. Garry and his team also initiated a new School of Medicine test and testing lab in collaboration with DRS. XIAO-MING YIN and DI TIAN in the Department of Pathology. It is based on the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test being used by the CDC, which determines a positive or negative diagnosis through a nasal swab.
GLOBAL COLLABORATIVE Epidemiologist and disease ecologist LINA MOSES, PHD, with the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, traveled to Geneva to coordinate research efforts for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. Moses was charged with rapidly distributing the most impactful scientific information to the WHO operational response teams. Her efforts involved the daily appraisal of a vast amount of critical literature on all aspects of the novel coronavirus relevant to the prevention of infection and the treatment of those infected.
IMMUNITY & ANTIBODIES The National Institutes of Health awarded a $3.7 million grant to virologist DR. JAMES ROBINSON to launch the Tulane University COVID Antibody and Immunity Network. The goal of this Serological Sciences Center of Excellence is to define the immune response to COVID-19 to determine how it protects individuals from infection and how long that protection lasts.
6 | ACADEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
Tulane has always met challenges, from addressing the yellow fever
epidemics of the 19th century to recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Our history, location and driving ambition mold our character; that is
why we tackle work that is both timely and relevant, and how we build a better future for New Orleans and the world.
GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE When COVID-19 began to threaten not only the health of people worldwide but the economic prospects of entire countries and regions, NORA LUSTIG, the Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics and director of the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane, took action. She organized networks of Latin American economists and researchers to examine countries’ COVID-19 situations and policy responses, including one group that resulted in a partnership with the United Nations Development Program that focused on actionable items for governments, individuals and NGOs to support countries’ populations. Her collaborative COVID-19 work, including many publications and a letter to the G20, guides governments as they attempt to manage their response to the fallout of the pandemic.
LEADING PRIMATE RESEARCH Tulane National Primate Center Director JAY RAPPAPORT (right) and SKIP BOHM, associate director and chief veterinary medical officer, are part of a team that established a COVID-19 research program at Tulane. The Center mobilized to become one of the first research facilities in the country to obtain approval from the Centers for Disease Control to receive samples of the novel coronavirus. It is the only National Primate Research Center with a Regional Biocontainment Laboratory onsite that is capable of the high level of biocontainment required to study an emerging infectious disease like COVID-19. It also has the nation’s largest capacity for studying the transmission of infectious agents in nonhuman primates at this level of biocontainment, which is critical as public health responders rush to understand and thwart disease spread.
HOW COVID-19 WORKS The Centers for Disease Control recently awarded $700,000 to a Tulane University team of researchers who are studying how the virus works and where and when it is shed. What they find could help explain why COVID-19 is causing higher death rates among Black and Hispanic residents of New Orleans. Tulane Assistant Professor of Medicine DR. DAHLENE FUSCO and her team are tracking patients from hospitals and clinics around the Greater New Orleans area in order to learn whether specific factors related to the virus or something within the host contribute to the higher fatality rate. They are collecting clinical, virus and serologic (antibody and cytokine) data from people diagnosed with COVID-19 and plan to follow patients for a year after their treatment for the virus.
ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 7
Rooted in Purpose Solutions
&
COVID-19 Research
CDC IN NOLA
ADDRESSING TRAUMA
VIRAL AEROSOLS
Led by local principal investigator DR. RICHARD OBERHELMAN,
DR. LAUREN TEVERBAUGH, Tulane School of Medicine pediatrician
Director of Infectious Disease Aerobiology at the Tulane
professor of tropical medicine and associate dean for global
and child psychiatrist, was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson
National Primate Research Center CHAD ROY, PHD,
health, Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Foundation (RWJF) as a Clinical Scholars Fellow. Fellows collaborate
published a study that may explain why COVID-19 spreads
has partnered with local healthcare providers to launch a
on a project to address complex health problems. Teverbaugh
so rapidly in highly populated spaces. Roy and his team
COVID-19 study of patients and medical workers in New Orleans
is a part of EmPOWER NOLA, a cohort of New Orleans healthcare
sprayed viral aerosols into a slowly churning aerosol
as part of a larger Centers for Disease Control effort to answer
professionals working to promote the treatment and support of
chamber and suspended them, continuously monitoring
key epidemiological and clinical questions about the disease.
children living with trauma. A recent survey of 5,000 youth by the
for any changes taking place. The researchers found that
Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies found a high prevalence of
SARS-CoV-2 can stay viable and infectious for up to 16
children in the city living through profoundly traumatic events.
hours in the air — much longer than similar viruses.
8 | ACADEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
EXPERT ADVICE Since the outbreak of the pandemic, news organizations across the globe have turned to Tulane researchers, scholars, and infectious disease experts at an unprecedented level, seeking their knowledge and comments on how the world can best fight back against COVID-19.
AC ADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 9
3.14
$
BILLION ANNUAL TOTAL IMPACT IN LOUISIANA
Our Ambitious Future Despite the challenges the global community faces with the ongoing pandemic, Tulane University
continues its transformation into a world-class
institution. By investing in a holistic undergraduate
experience, path-breaking interdisciplinary research,
and ever more vibrant campuses and research centers, Tulane is ensuring its dynamic future.
Visit president.tulane.edu/impact to learn more about the many ways Tulane helps power the economic growth of our great city and state.
__________
2.3
$
BILLION OPERATIONS __________
382
$
STARTED 2020 RESIDENTIAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES $200 MILLION
MILLION ALUMNI RETENTION AND WAGE PREMIUM __________
312
$
MILLION VISITOR SPENDING __________
143
$
MILLION CAPITAL INVESTMENTS 10 | ACA DEM IC Y EA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
OPENED 2019 THE COMMONS $55 MILLION 77,000 SQUARE FEET
STARTED 2020 PAUL HALL — SCIENCE & ENGINEERING DISTRICT $55 MILLION 76,000 SQUARE FEET
ANONYMOUS $1 MILLION DONATION Tulane University received an anonymous $1 million gift to establish a fund for Emerging Research in Infectious Disease. The fund will help expand Tulane’s clinical trials capacity, accelerate the development of new model systems and support efforts to develop rapid diagnostic tests, providing an immediate impact in the race for treatments and a vaccine for COVID-19.
FY20 NUMBERS 22,966 DONORS $127.8 MILLION RAISED __________
CAMPAIGN NUMBERS $1.17 BILLION RAISED SO FAR TOWARDS $1.3 BILLION GOAL
$110,660,789 IN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS 7 OF 10 PRESIDENTIAL CHAIRS COMMITTED
Our most ambitious campaign ever
$299,228,433 IN RESEARCH COMMITMENTS
Pioneering Research, Transformative
__________
FY20 IMPACT GIFTS F The Avalon Fund created the Center for Brain Health to diagnose and treat discharged military service members and their spouses F Raborn Trust to benefit School of Medicine and School of Social Work F Amsterdam and Katz Gift to expand molecular pathology lab to increase COVID testing F The Leonard A. Lauder Professor of American History and Values F Stuart Rose Family Foundation gift of the Anne Rice Papers F Stanton Foundation spurred The First Amendment Clinic F Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience F Anonymous donors to establish endowed Chair in Contemporary Jewish Life F Leone Learning Center for first-year students at Tulane School of Medicine F Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Biotechnology Innovation
Only the Audacious
GIVE GREEN GIVING DAY NUMBERS OVER $1,100,000 (43% INCREASE IN DOLLARS OVER FY19) RAISED IN JUST 24 HOURS
is dedicated to four key areas of focus: Teaching, Opportunity and Diversity, and Building an Environment for
Excellence. These leaps and bounds
won’t end at Tulane, and they won’t end when we reach $1.3 billion. The time is now to stand together for Tulane.
2,741 TOTAL GIFTS 2,125 TOTAL DONORS INCLUDING 420 FIRST-TIME DONORS TULANIANS MADE GIFTS FROM ALL 50 STATES, PUERTO RICO, D.C. AND 11 COUNTRIES
F Keck Foundation — to study disparate immune responses in men and women AC ADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 11
HOPE AND CHANGE After visiting the Whitney Plantation, a historic site that is located about an hour from Tulane’s School of Medicine campus, medical student Russell Ledet was inspired to send a message. This iconic photo of Ledet and his fellow Black classmates soon became a viral sensation and an international news story. 12 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
Excellence Equity
&
Institutions of higher education have the power to transform lives. At Tulane, this begins by making
our academic community a more inclusive and
“
This feels like an exciting new opportunity and
phase in my life to come back home and do the work I love. I am excited to become a part of the social change network that already exists at Tulane and collaborate to move these efforts forward. I believe that Tulane is ready to break new ground as a campus and ask important questions about historical, institutional and interpersonal conditions that continue inequity for many of our community members.
”
supportive home for all. Diversity is a hallmark
of a great university that is committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive future. This is the university Tulane aspires to be. We have made progress toward this goal in recent years, but it is clear that we must do more — much more.
NEW CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER ANNELIESE SINGH New Orleans native and Tulane alumna ANNELIESE SINGH (NC ’91) returned to her hometown to become Tulane’s first Associate Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development. Singh, whose appointment was announced on April 22, will serve as the university’s inaugural chief diversity officer, sharing best practices in building diversity across campus and bolstering efforts to recruit, support and retain a diverse faculty. In addition, she will join the School of Social Work as a full professor, with a joint affiliation with Tulane’s Department of Psychology.
AC ADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 13
“
I join our Black students, faculty and staff in affirming that racism has no place at our university or in our community. In recent years, we have made progress together toward a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Tulane. But, as recent events have illuminated, we must do more. We must commit to making Tulane a more inclusive and supportive home for all.
”
– PRESIDENT MICHAEL FITTS
14 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
Excellence Equity
&
A PLAN FOR NOW In June 2020, President Fitts announced a new set of university-wide initiatives as important first steps to promote a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community that is supportive of all of its members. In October, he launched the reinvigorated and reimagined President’s Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion asking the Commission leadership team to develop “A Plan for Now.” “A Plan for Now” provides structure and direction for initiatives already underway and identifies actions we can undertake in the coming weeks and months that will have an immediate and positive impact toward becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Tulane. To learn more, visit Tulane.edu/racial-equity.
BELONGING FOR ALL
PROMOTING EXCELLENCE AND
PARTNERING WITH PURPOSE
A top priority of the Commission will be to create a Tulane
LEADERSHIP IN RACIAL EQUITY
Tulane’s success as a university is directly tied to the success
culture that embraces diversity and fosters a sense of
To equip our students to succeed and meet the challenges of
of New Orleans and surrounding communities. Moving
belonging for all by:
an increasingly complex society and economy, it is crucial for
forward we will commit to building and supporting a fairer
1. Pursuing Racial Equity
Tulane to leverage the richness of backgrounds, experience
and more equitable community through developing:
F Equity Education
and ideas inherent in our growing diversity. The Commission
1. Vendor Diversity and Economic Impact Partnerships
F Increasing Support for Equity, Diversity
will start by:
2. Local Community Paths to Tulane Admission
1. Fostering Student Success
3. Public Service
and Inclusion (EDI) Initiatives
F Academic Experience 2. Being Vigilantly Anti-Racist F Reporting and Responding to Bias Incidents F Building Naming Task Force
F The Carolyn Barber-Pierre Center for Intercultural Life F Center for Academic Equity
F Tulane Trailblazers 2. Supporting Career Success 3. Identifying and Addressing High-Priority Issues
F Faculty Recruitment & Retention
F Health Equity Institute
F Staff Leadership Institute
F Campus Safety
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON RACIAL EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION F SHANTAY BOLTON, vice president and deputy chief operating officer F MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM, associate provost, graduate and postdoctoral studies F WILL FERBOS, associate vice president for institutional affairs and deputy chief of staff to the president F KELLY GRANT, senior associate dean for retention and strategic initiatives for Newcomb-Tulane College F ANNELIESE SINGH, associate provost for diversity and faculty development AC ADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 15
Meaningful Exploration Discovery
&
A great university defines success by how it advances humanity
through academic, scholarly and social leadership. By that
standard, Tulane is truly impactful — and ascendant. Tulane’s
manifold contributions are evident in the lives we transform, the problems we solve and the community we foster.
IN FY20, TULANE RECEIVED MORE THAN
176
$
MILLION IN RESEARCH FUNDING —THE HIGHEST AMOUNT IN TULANE’S HISTORY. __________
16 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
CULTURAL HISTORY
HEALTH EQUITY
Supported by collaborations with Tulane and its
THOMAS LAVEIST, a national expert on issues related to equity
growing Jewish Studies program, the new Museum of
and health, is dean of Tulane University’s School of Public Health
the Southern Jewish Experience will bring together
and Tropical Medicine and the Weatherhead Presidential Chair
hundreds of stories that might otherwise have been
in Health Equity. He and other key researchers are currently
lost to history. The museum’s new executive director,
working to launch a new Health Equity Institute, to study how
KENNETH HOFFMAN (A&S ’88, G ’93), a former history
health issues disproportionately impact the Black community.
major at Tulane, was previously director of education
LaVeist is also co-chair of the Louisiana COVID-19 Health Equity
at the Louisiana State Museum and The National WWII
Task Force, which was tasked by Gov. John Bel Edwards to
Museum. Slated to open in 2021, the 13,000-square-
develop a series of recommendations to address health
foot space in downtown New Orleans will illustrate
inequities affecting communities that are most impacted by
Jewish life across 13 states.
COVID-19, to improve health outcomes and provide greater access to high quality medical care.
Research. He previously served in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, where
TULANE SCIENTISTS BUILD HIGH-PERFORMING HYBRID SOLAR ENERGY CONVERTER
he held the Steven and Nancy Calabrese Endowed Chair for Excellence in Pediatric Care.
Tulane University researchers are part of a team of scientists who
NEW VP FOR RESEARCH GIOVANNI PIEDIMONTE DR. GIOVANNI PIEDIMONTE, a distinguished pediatric pulmonologist, joined Tulane in Fall 2019 as the new Vice President for
have developed a hybrid solar energy converter that generates Piedimonte plans to foster collaboration among researchers whose worlds may look distant. It is synergy that he’s hoping
electricity and steam with high efficiency and low cost. The work
will be sparked. From his three decades doing research, he is convinced that great research comes from the combination of
led by MATTHEW ESCARRA, associate professor of physics and
experiences that are as different as possible. His primary goal is to bring together people with different talents, backgrounds
engineering physics at Tulane, and DANIEL CODD, associate
and knowledge to answer the questions that cannot be answered by the individual specialties.
professor of mechanical engineering at the University of San Diego, is the culmination of a U.S. Department of Energy project
Piedimonte’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for more than 30 years, and he has been
that began in 2014 with $3.3 million in funding. The hybrid
principal investigator or co-investigator on more than 40 research projects. As an administrator, he’ll lead the research
converter generates electricity from high efficiency multi-junction
enterprise at Tulane, which received $137 million in funding for sponsored projects from the NIH and other external agencies
solar cells that also redirect infrared rays of sunlight to a thermal
in fiscal year 2018. He will also continue his own NIH-funded research at Tulane, bringing his investigations that involve biomedical
receiver, which converts those rays to thermal energy.
engineering, environmental studies and infectious disease research, as well as medicine, to the interdisciplinary setting at Tulane. ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 17
Meaningful Exploration Discovery
&
ANNE RICE ARCHIVES
Tulane University’s Howard-Tilton Memorial Library acquired the complete archives of famed best-selling New Orleans author Anne Rice thanks to a gift from Stuart Rose and the Stuart Rose Family Foundation. Born and raised in New Orleans — the setting of her most famous books — Rice is the author of 30 novels with more than 100 million copies sold, placing her among the most popular authors in recent American history. Rice’s work has included gothic and erotic fiction, as well as Christian literature, but she is best known for her novels in vampire and supernatural fiction. Through their special collections, Tulane’s libraries preserve the unique culture and history of the city of New Orleans and the Gulf South Region. The Anne Rice Archives will join the literary papers of John Kennedy Toole, Lafcadio Hearn, George Washington Cable and other authors with strong ties to New Orleans, along with many other collections relating to local history, music and architecture. 18 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
JOHN BARRY Few authors have received as much attention during the COVID-19 pandemic than historian John M. Barry, adjunct professor at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He and his book The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (2004) have been referenced by countless media outlets over the course of the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, and he has written three opinions published in The New York Times. Bill Gates, in his popular blog “GatesNotes,” wrote of The Great Influenza, “I’m glad I read it. It’s one of several books that made it clear to me that the world needed to do a better job of preparing for novel pathogens.”
ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 19
Enlightened by Experience
Tulane is a powerful, unique and transformative community; the Tulane experience binds us together and creates a deep sense of connection that transcends
generations, backgrounds and areas of study. We foster exploration and innovation, embrace our differences and build meaningful lives.
ASTRONAUT DOUGLAS HURLEY AND NASA/SPACEX MISSION DOUGLAS G. HURLEY, who graduated from Tulane’s School of Engineering with a degree in civil engineering in 1988, is one of two astronauts who flew the Demo-2 mission on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on May 30, the first crewed flight for that vehicle and part of a collaborative commercial effort between NASA and commercial launch provider SpaceX. Hurley and fellow astronaut Bob Behnken participated in a number of scientific experiments, spacewalks and public engagement events during their 62 days aboard the International Space Station. Overall, the astronaut duo spent 64 days in orbit, completed 1,024 orbits around Earth and traveled 27,147,284 statute miles. They returned to Earth on August 2, splashing down safely in the Gulf of Mexico, for the first time in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft, a test flight that marks a new era in human spaceflight. It was also the first splashdown for American astronauts since Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand and Donald “Deke” Slayton landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii on July 24, 1975, at the end of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. A former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot and fighter pilot (he worked on the early development of the F18 Super Hornet), Hurley was named as a NASA astronaut in 2000. He is a veteran of two spaceflights, in 2009 and 2011, and was appointed to NASA’s Commercial Crew Cadre in 2015. 20 | ACA DEM IC YEA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
BRACE'D FOR SAFETY As business owners attempt to reopen amid the continued threat of the virus, many are in need of resources to assist them in their task. The Business Resilience and Community Education (BRACE) program was created in May 2020 by School of Medicine students and their faculty adviser, Dr. Jonathan Gugel, as an educational program for businesses reopening during the pandemic. BRACE began with six students, now the executive committee, and recruited another 10 students over the last three months. They consult owners and managers, brainstorming ideas on how to manage spaces to promote safety for employees and customers, developing a plan that is unique to each situation. In addition to positive feedback from businesses, BRACE has been endorsed by Louisiana Department of Health Assistant State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter for its work.
ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 21
&
Heroes Helpers TEMS ON THE FRONT LINE
It was mid-March 2020, and members of TULANE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES — a student-run basic emergency medical service based on Tulane’s uptown campus and managed by Campus Health — received a call from New Orleans EMS, the city’s emergency medical service. COVID-19 was quickly becoming a health crisis in New Orleans and TEMS was needed. Though the students were spread across the country completing online coursework, they returned to New Orleans to assist with patient assessments, treatments and interventions.
DISINFECTING MASKS ANGIE BIRNBAUM, director of Tulane’s Office of Biosafety, worked tirelessly to help ensure the safety of medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients. She developed a process to decontaminate critically needed N95 and other protective masks so that they can be reused by frontline doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. She also secured the support of a nonprofit company to provide disinfected personal protective equipment for frontline heroes working in both the New Orleans hospital system and throughout Louisiana.
GIVE BACK TULANE Graduating seniors ROSS BERLIN, MATTHEW WU and MAX STEITZ, spending the final months of their Tulane experience completing coursework away from campus, decided to use their free time to help the city that has given so much to them. The result was Give Back Tulane, a fundraising initiative that has raised more than $63,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank, the Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s Music Relief Fund, and the New Orleans Business Alliance’s Gig Economy Relief Fund. Walter Isaacson, the Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values at Tulane, connected the three to the Greater New Orleans Foundation (where Give Back Tulane is housed) and helped guide them in creating a marketing strategy aimed at appealing to Tulane students.
22 | AC A DEM IC Y EA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020
Heroes & Helpers is a program launched by President Fitts in April 2020
that recognized a person or team, among Tulane’s students, faculty, staff and alumni, engaged in extraordinary efforts on behalf of others in the battle against COVID-19.
JUMPING IN MICHAEL ANTOINE is passionate about helping others, and he has been doing just that for more than 18 years since he started out as a firefighter at age 19. As deputy director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Antoine and his team worked to clear streets, acquire personal protective equipment, and coordinate activities with hospitals, police and other first responders. All the while, Antoine, the father of two, earned his master’s degree in Homeland Security Studies, a program of the Tulane School of Professional Advancement.
CLEARING THE WAY GUIDO SALVATIERRA heroically led his team at Tulane Facilities Services to facilitate a smooth and seamless move-out of students from residence halls as the university abruptly began online instruction and asked students to move home amidst the outbreak of COVID-19. Salvatierra’s team effectively and efficiently cleared the residence halls so that the small number of students who did elect to stay on campus would have a safe and clean environment in which to live.
FASTER & BETTER ROBERT F. GARRY, JR., XIAO-MING YIN and DI TIAN led the rapid establishment of COVID-19 testing at Tulane’s School of Medicine. By April 1, they had repurposed a research laboratory to process Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, where results can be processed within a day. The testing being done at the medical school saves time from having to ship samples to the state lab in Baton Rouge, where because of demand, results can take days, rather than hours, to obtain. The faster testing allows for better patient care and more effective clinical treatment and intervention.
MAKING MASKS When Tulane students transitioned to online classes, ISAAC HOESCHEN, a School of Liberal Arts student, returned home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hoeschen then researched a design for making medical face shields. He ordered enough materials to make 1,000 face shields and found a local machine shop to die-cut the shields. He then contacted hospitals about purchasing the face shields at cost. In less than a week, he had 725 face shields to sell to Froedtert Hospital of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Hoeschen connected the hospital with the machine shop, and as a result, the shop brought back all its employees and began manufacturing face shields. ACADEM I C YEAR I N R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 | 23
ATHLETICS BY THE NUMBERS
THAKARIUS KEYES KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
20 ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
6 ALL-AMERICANS 5 POSTSEASON APPEARANCES 3 DRAFT PICKS 1 CONFERENCE CHAMPION
3.405 TULANE ATHLETICS GPA
95% GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE
DARNELL MOONEY CHICAGO BEARS
TOP AMONG AAC SCHOOLS HIGHEST IN LOUISIANA
4 STRAIGHT YEARS AS
A TOP 25 FINISHER IN THE NCAA HELPER HELPER CHALLENGE
HUDSON HASKIN BALTIMORE ORIOLES
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ALL-AMERICANS Geron Eatherly Football (Phil Steele All-American) Olivia Johnson Swimming and Diving (CSCAA) Lilly Byrne Swimming and Diving (CSCAA) Madison McCall Bowling (NTCA) Luke Jannetta Baseball (Collegiate Baseball) Braden Olthoff Baseball (Collegiate Baseball)
CONFERENCE CHAMPION Olivia Johnson Swimming and Diving
ATHLETICS DEPARTMENTAL HIGHLIGHTS F OPENED THE $1.2 MILLION
4,700
HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PERFORMED BY STUDENTATHLETES __________
SLATTEN FAMILY STRENGTH CENTER F REBRANDED AND REPLACED PLAYING SURFACE AT YULMAN STADIUM F CONSTRUCTION STARTED ON A $4 MILLION BROADCAST PRODUCTION STUDIO FOR GAME BROADCASTS FOR ESPN F 11% GROWTH IN GREEN WAVE CLUB MEMBERSHIP F OLIVE & BLUE SOCIETY SURPASSES 100 MEMBERS WITH OVER $1.5 MILLION IN NEW COMMITMENTS F RECORD-SETTING NUMBER OF GIFTS ON GIVE GREEN DAY TOTALING OVER $160,000
POSTSEASON APPEARANCES
FOOTBALL
VOLLEYBALL
SWIMMING AND DIVING
WOMEN’S MEN’S CROSS CROSS R EVI EW 2 01 9-2 02 0 COUNTRY ACADEM I C YEAR I NCOUNTRY
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President Michael A. Fitts 6823 St. Charles Avenue | 218 Gibson Hall New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 504.865.5201 tulane.edu/foronesown
26 | ACA DEM IC Y EA R IN R EV IEW 2019 -2020