Gibson, Randall Lee, 1832-92, Confederate general and U.S. legislator, b. Woodford co., Ky. Gibson served in most of the Western campaigns of the Civil War, first as an artillery officer and later as commander of an infantry brigade. After the war he practiced law in New Orleans and later was a U.S. representative (1875-83) and senator (1883-92). He was Paul Tulane's agent in reorganizing the Univ. of Louisiana as Tulane; he became the first president of the board of administrators of the university.

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as a public medical college in 1834, the school grew into a full university and was eventually privatized under the endowments of Paul Tulane and Josephine Louise Newcomb in the late 19th century. It is the only American university that has been converted from a public institution to a private institution.

History

Founding and early history

The University dates from 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. With the addition of a law department, it became The University of Louisiana in 1847, a public university. 1851 saw the establishment of an Academic Department, the forerunner of the College of Arts and Sciences. Two significant scientific innovations were made by faculty at the University at this time. J. Lawrence Smith invented the inverted microscope in 1850, and John L. Riddell invented the first practical microscope to allow binocular viewing through a single objective lens in 1851.

The University closed for three years during the Civil War; after reopening, it went through a period of financial challenges. Paul Tulane donated extensive real estate within New Orleans for the support of education; this donation led to the establishment of a Tulane Educational Fund (TEF), whose board of administrators sought to support the University of Louisiana instead of establishing a new university. In response, through the influence of former Civil War general Randall Lee Gibson, the Louisiana state legislature transferred control of the University of Louisiana to the administrators of the TEF in 1884. This act created the Tulane University of Louisiana.

In 1885, a Graduate Division started, the predecessor to the Graduate School. One year later, gifts from Josephine Louise Newcomb totaling over $3.6 million led to the establishment of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College within Tulane University. Newcomb was the first coordinate college for women in the United States, and became a model for such institutions as Radcliffe College and Barnard College.

In 1894 a College of Technology formed, the forerunner to the College of Engineering. In the same year the university moved to its present-day uptown campus on St. Charles Avenue, five miles by streetcar from downtown.

20th century

In 1901, the cornerstone was laid for the F.W. Tilton Library, endowed by the New Orleans businessman and philanthropist Frederick William Tilton (1821–1890).

An Architecture Department originated within the College of Technology in 1907. One year later, Schools of Dentistry and Pharmacy appeared, both temporarily: Dentistry ended in 1928, and Pharmacy six years later.

In 1914, Tulane established a College of Commerce, the first business school in the South.

1925 saw the formal establishment of the Graduate School. Two years later, the university set up a School of Social Work, the first in the Deep South.

The house of Tulane's president on St. Charles Avenue was once the mansion of Sam Zemurray who was the head of the United Fruit Company which became infamous for its exploitation of Latin American countries as "banana republics."

University College dates from 1942. The School of Architecture grew out of Engineering in 1950.

The School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine dates from 1967 and is the oldest school of its kind in the country. Also, Tulane's School of Tropical Medicine is the only one of its kind in the country. In the Fall of 2006, the School of Public Health began admitting undergraduate students.

The student-run radio station of the university, WTUL-FM, began broadcasting on campus in 1971.

On April 23, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., spoke at Tulane University's Fogelman Arena at the invitation of Congressman F. Edward Hebert, the powerful representative of Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District. During the historic speech, Ford announced that the Vietnam War was "finished as far as America is concerned"- one week before the fall of Saigon. Ford drew parallels to the Battle of New Orleans saying that such positive activity could do for America’s morale what the battle did in 1815.

Tulane once had a football stadium on campus that seated over 80,000 people, held three Super Bowls, and was the home of the New Orleans Saints and the Sugar Bowl. When Tulane Stadium was razed after the construction of the Superdome, workers found a mummy couple underneath the bleachers. The football team now plays in the Superdome.

In 1998, the student body of Tulane University voted by referendum to split the Associate Student Body (ASB) Senate into two separate houses, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA). Previous to the split, only one Executive Cabinet was elected and all student government meetings consisted of both undergraduate and graduate students. Now, each house has its own Executive Cabinet and Senate elected by its own students. USG and GAPSA meet separately to issues pertaining to their respective constituencies. However, the Office of the Associated Student Body President remained - the ASB President is a representative of every student on all of Tulane's campuses. This person is still elected by the entire student body of Tulane, both undergraduate and graduate students.

USG and GAPSA come together twice a semester to meet as the ASB Senate, where issues pertaining to the entire Tulane student body are discussed. The meetings of the ASB Senate are presided over by the ASB President.

The Jambalaya, Tulane's yearbook, published annually since 1897, published its last edition (Volume 99) in 1995, because of funding and management problems. In the fall of 2003, the Jambalaya was reestablished as a student club, and in the Spring of 2004, the centennial edition of the Jambalaya was published. The staff now continues to publish a Jambalaya annually.

21st century

In 2001 the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy started as the first major center in the U.S. to focus on research using adult stem cells.

In July 2004, Tulane received two $30 million donations to its endowment, the largest individual or combined gifts in the university's history. The donations came from Jim Clark, a member of the university's board and founder of Netscape, and David Filo, a graduate of its School of Engineering and co-founder of Yahoo!. In the months following Hurricane Katrina, restrictions were removed from these gifts to ensure the continued financial health of the university. A fund raising campaign called "Promise & Distinction" raised $730.6 million as of October 3, 2008, increasing the university's total endowment to more than $1.1 billion. Tulane became one of 76 U.S. colleges to maintain an endowment of above $1 billion.

On March 4, 2008, the university announced that a record 34,000 students had applied for admission to the class of 2012, and that the average SAT score was expected to be around 1365, marking a rise of approximately 30 points above the average of the class of 2011.

Effect of Hurricane Katrina

As a result of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and its effects on New Orleans, most of Tulane University was closed for the second time in its history—the first being during the American Civil War. The School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine's distance learning programs and courses stayed active. Facing a budget shortfall, the Board of Administrators announced a "Renewal Plan" in December 2005 to reduce its annual operating budget and create a "student-centric" campus.

Campuses

Tulane's uptown campus, established in the 1890s, occupies over 110 acres (44.5 ha), facing St. Charles Avenue directly opposite Audubon Park. The rear of the uptown campus reaches South Claiborne Avenue, and it is divided by Freret and Willow Streets. The campus architecture consists of several styles, including Richardsonian Romanesque, Elizabethan, Italian Renaissance, Brutalist Modern, and Ultramodern styles. Though there isn't a coherent building design across the entire campus, most buildings make use of similar materials. The front campus buildings use Indiana White Limestone or orange brick for exteriors, while the middle campus buildings are mostly adorned in red St. Joe brick, the staple of Newcomb College buildings. Loyola University is directly adjacent to Tulane, on the downriver side. The uptown campus is known for its many large live oak trees and architecturally historic buildings.

The front of the uptown campus, between St. Charles Avenue and Freret Street, is home to most of the school's academic buildings, including the facilities for the schools of Architecture and Social Work. The centerpiece of the Academic Quad is the first academic building, Gibson Hall. The middle of the campus, between Freret and Willow Streets and bisected by McAlister Drive and Newcomb Place, serves as the center of campus activities. The Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, Fogelman Arena, McAlister Auditorium, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, most of the student residence halls and academic buildings populate the center of campus. The facilities for the Business school line McAlister Drive and Tulane Law School sits adjacent to the Business school. The middle campus is also home to the historic Newcomb College Campus, which sits between Newcomb Place and Broadway. The Newcomb campus was designed by New York architect James Gamble Rogers, noted for his work with Yale University's campus. The Newcomb campus is home to Tulane's performing and fine arts venues. The back of campus, between Willow Street and South Claiborne, is home to two residence halls, Reily Recreation Center and Turchin Stadium, the home of Green Wave baseball.

After Hurricane Katrina, Tulane has continued to build new facilities and renovate old spaces on its campus. The newest residence hall, Lallage Feazel Wall Residential College, was completed in August 2005 and took in its first students when Tulane re-opened in January 2006. Fogelman Arena was renovated for basketball in the fall of 2006, and is expected to undergo another renovation to add more seats to the small arena. The Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life was renovated to be a green, environmentally friendly building and opened for student use in January 2007. Greer Field at Turchin Stadium was renovated and reopened for the 2008 baseball season. Tulane also hopes to begin construction on another new residence hall. Other facilities of Tulane include:

• F. Edward Hebert Research Center, near Belle Chasse, La., which provides facilities for graduate training and research in computer science, bioengineering, and biology;
• Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington, La., one of eight such centers funded by the National Institutes of Health;
• Tulane University Health Sciences Center, located in the New Orleans Central Business District between the Louisiana Superdome and Canal Street in 18 mid/high-rise buildings, which houses the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine;
• Tulane University Square, of space and six acres of surrounding land, is located on Broadway and Leake Avenue adjacent to the Mississippi River.;
• Satellite campuses of the School of Continuing Studies, Tulane's open admissions university college, located in downtown New Orleans, Elmwood and in Biloxi, Ms.;
• Houston, Santiago, Chile, Shanghai, China, and Taipei, Taiwan where the business school offers an executive MBA program. Tulane also has signed an educational affiliation agreement with International University in Geneva.

Academics

Academic divisions

Tulane is organized into ten schools centered around liberal arts, sciences and certain professions:

All undergraduate students are enrolled in the Newcomb-Tulane College. The graduate programs are governed by individual schools. Tulane also offers continuing education courses and associate's degrees through its School of Continuing Studies.

As part of the post-Hurricane Katrina Renewal Plan, the University initiated an extensive university wide core curriculum. Many parts of the core can be bypassed through AP exam or IB course credit, placement exams in English and Foreign Languages offered by the University during Freshmen Orientation, or entering into certain schools with different requirements (students in the School of Science and Engineering are required to take fewer Language classes than students in the School of Liberal Arts. Two major additions to the University Core are TIDES classes (a freshmen seminar that is taken pass fail) and a two class public service sequence. In addition, each school has its own additional core that each student enrolled in the school must complete.

Academic Division	Dean
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine	Pierre Buekens
Newcomb-Tulane College	James MacLaren
School of Architecture	Kenneth A. Schwartz, FAIA
Law School	Lawrence Ponoroff
School of Liberal Arts	Carole Haber
School of Medicine	Benjamin Sachs
Freeman School of Business	Angelo S. DeNisi
School of Science and Engineering	Nicholas J. Altiero
School of Social Work	Ronald E. Marks
School of Continuing Studies	Richard A. Marksbury

Statistics and Rankings

• 2008 undergraduate applications: 34,117
• 2008 freshman class size: 1,550
• SAT scores (middle 50%): 1880-2150
• ACT scores (middle 50%): 28-32
• Average SAT/ACT: 1365/31
• Acceptance rate: 27%
• Undergraduate enrollment: 6,449
• Graduate/Post Graduate enrollment: 4,070
• Funding for research and development: $190 million
• Student/Faculty ratio: 8:1
• Average undergraduate class size: 22
• Faculty with terminal degrees: 99%
• The National Institutes of Health funding ranking: 79

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• Fulbright Scholars: 29
• Rhodes Scholars: 17
• Marshall Scholars: 23
• Goldwater Scholars: 27

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• Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, and Emory University comprise the original three "Southern Ivies." Modern applications of this term now stretch to include Duke University and Rice University. Efforts to launch the "Magnolia Conference" (Southern Ivy League) have proven futile since the 1950s when the Ivy League was established.
• In 2003, Tulane's graduation rate for student-athletes was 79%, ranking 14th among Division I athletic programs.
• Tulane is rated as one of the Top 10 Colleges in the US by Professional-Resumes.com.
• Tulane is one of North America's top research universities; its status confirmed by it being one of 60 elected members of the Association of American Universities. Tulane also is designated as a Carnegie research university/very high research activity, the highest classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 2008 US News and World Reports ranked the School of Medicine's research ranking at 55th.
• US News & World Report's 2009 edition ranked Tulane's overall undergraduate program 51st in the nation among "National Universities". In the past, Tulane has been ranked as high as 30. The School of Law ranked 44th overall and 12th in environmental law. In 2007 the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine ranked 13th among Public Health programs.
• The A.B. Freeman School of Business is ranked 44th nationally and 28th among programs at private universities by Forbes magazine. It was ranked 28th nationally and 48th internationally by Mexican business magazine Expansion (August 2007), and 22nd nationally and 36th internationally by AméricaEconomía magazine (August 2006). Its finance program was ranked 10th in the world by the Financial Times. The school ranked 13th nationally for entrepreneurship by Entrepreneur magazine (October 2006).
• Tulane is ranked 32nd nationally by Forbes magazine in a study conducted by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
• Tulane's Latin American studies program was ranked first in the country by the Gourman Report. Tulane's Department of Spanish and Portuguese is ranked second nationally.
• According to the 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, Tulane's French program was ranked 6th in the country. This index ranks departmental faculty at research universities based on the awards, grants, and publications of the faculty.
• In 2002, Tulane was ranked as one of the nine hottest schools in America by Kaplan. In Kaplan's 2008 edition, Tulane was again ranked among the hottest schools in the nation.
• 75% of Tulane's student body comes from more than away, making it the most geographically diverse university in the United States.
• Tulane holds four rankings from The Princeton Review: Great College Towns, Best in the Southeast, College With a Conscience, and Happiest Students.
• In its 2008 issue, the Princeton Review ranked Tulane's student body among the top ten happiest in the nation.
• Tulane University has been ranked by the Ford Foundation as the major international studies research institution in the South and one of the top 15 nationally.
• The Tulane School of Architecture ranks 15th nationally for its research performance.

Dean's Honor Scholarship

The Dean's Honor Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship awarded by Tulane which covers full tuition for the duration of the recipient's undergraduate program. The scholarship is offered to 50 incoming freshmen by the Office of Undergraduate Admission, and is awarded only through a separate application. This scholarship is renewable provided that the recipient maintains a minimum 3.0 GPA at the end of each semester and maintains continuous enrollment in a full-time undergraduate division. Typically, recipients have SAT I scores of 1450 or higher or an ACT composite score of 33 or higher, rank in the top 5% of their high school graduating class, have a rigorous course load including honors and Advanced Placement classes, and an outstanding record of extracurricular activities.

Notable recipients include Sean M. Berkowitz, David Filo and Eric R. Palmer.

List of university presidents

There have been fourteen presidents of Tulane since the establishment of the Tulane Education Fund in 1884.

President	Years
William Preston Johnston	1884–1899
William Oscar Rogers	1899–1900 (acting)
Edwin Alderman	1900–1904
Edwin Boone Craighead	1904–1912
Robert Sharp	1912–1913 (acting) 1913–1918
Albert Bledsoe Dinwiddie	1918–1935
Douglas Smith Anderson	1935–1936 (acting)
Robert Leonval Menuet	1936–1937 (acting)
Rufus Carrollton Harris	1937–1960
Maxwell Edward Laphan	1960 (acting)
Herbert Eugene Longenecker	1960–1975
Sheldon Hackney	1975–1980
Eamon Kelly	1980–1981 (acting) 1981–1998
Scott S. Cowen	1998–present

Athletics

Tulane is a member of Conference USA in athletics and an official member of the NCAA Division I. The university was a charter member of the Southeastern Conference, in which it competed until 1966.

Tulane University's football team went 12-0 in 1998 culminating in a 41-27 victory over the Brigham Young University Cougars in the Liberty Bowl. The team finished the season ranked No. 5 in the nation, its best performance to date, led by senior quarterback Shaun King, who in that season set an NCAA record for the highest single-season passing efficiency rating.

The Green Wave has been unable to match 1998's success in recent years, although it did go 8-5 in 2002 with a win over the University of Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl.

Several Tulane alumni are now fixtures in the National Football League, including Patrick Ramsey (Denver Broncos), J.P. Losman (Buffalo Bills), Anthony Cannon (Detroit Lions), Mewelde Moore (Pittsburgh Steelers), Matt Forté (Chicago Bears), and Roydell Williams (Tennessee Titans).

Tulane's baseball team is consistently listed in the Top 25 in national polls such as Baseball America, USA Today/ESPN, and Collegiate Baseball. In 2001, Tulane set a school record by leading the nation with 55 wins and made it to the College World Series in Omaha. Tulane was unable to maintain an 8-0 lead against Stanford University and lost the game 13-11. The Green Wave won its next game against Nebraska 6-5, but was eliminated in the third game by Cal-State Fullerton.

In 2005 the Green Wave had its best season in school history. Tulane started the season ranked first in the nation and held the top spot throughout most of the regular season. The Green Wave entered the postseason ranked No. 1 and beat the Rice University Owls to win the Super Regional. Tulane advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history.

In 2006, Tulane finished the regular season 39-17 and finished 3^rd in Conference USA with a 15-9 record. Tulane reached the NCAA regionals before losing to Ole Miss to end the season.

Several Tulane alumni are now fixtures in the Major Leagues, including Andy Cannizaro (New York Yankees) and Micah Owings (Arizona Diamondbacks). As well, the Green Wave have produced its share of national award winners, including All-America (Jake Gautreau in 2000 and 2001) and Freshman of the Year (James Jurries in 1999).

Notable alumni and faculty

Alma maters

Tulane Alma Mater
We praise thee for thy past, O Alma Mater!
Thy hand hath done its work full faithfully.
The incense of thy spirit has ascended
And filled America from sea to sea!
Olive Green and Blue! we love thee!
Pledge we now our fealty true
Where the trees are ever greenest,
Where the skies are purest blue.
Hear us now, O Tulane, hear us,
As we proudly sing to thee!
Take from us our hearts' devotion,
Thine we are and thine shall be!
Newcomb Alma Mater
Where stars arise in Southern skies
And thy loyal love in laughter lies,
O Newcomb fair, we bring to thee
Our hearts' allegiance, bold and free.
We bring to thee, where e'er shall be
The Star of our ascendancy --
CHORUS
O Alma Mater, Stand we nigh,
Thy daughters lift Thy flag on high!

Popular culture references

Literature

• Black Sunday by Thomas Harris is set during a Super Bowl played in Tulane Stadium.
• A Confederacy of Dunces by Tulane graduate John Kennedy Toole is set in New Orleans and features Ignatius J. Reilly, a Tulane graduate.
• Love in the Ruins and The Moviegoer by Walker Percy are partially set on Tulane's campus.
• Earth (novel) by David Brin, features characters from Tulane.
• The Pelican Brief by John Grisham is set on Tulane's campus and features a Tulane Law student.
• The story Reb Kringle from Nathan Englander's book For the Relief of Unbearable Urges features an appearance by "the elf on winter break from Tulane."
• Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts features a character Roxanne Nouvelle who attends Tulane.
• The Stagnant Pool by Nancy Maveety (a Tulane professor) is a novel based on life as a Tulane graduate student.
• Codex Maya by Steve Benzell, a Tulane graduate, is set in part on Tulane's campus.

Television

• St. Elsewhere: Howie Mandel's character, Dr. Wayne Fiscus, attended Tulane Medical School.
• Frank's Place: Bubba Weisberger (played by Robert Harper) was a graduate of Tulane Law School.
• Sex and the City: Mr. Big's ex-wife, Natasha, attended Tulane University as an undergraduate student.
• Gilmore Girls: Rory Gilmore's high school classmate Louise Grant attended Tulane, and Louise's best friend Madeline Lynn also transferred to the school.
• Grey's Anatomy: Dr. Burke attended Tulane University.
• CSI: Miami: Calleigh Duquesne attended Tulane University and majored in physics.
• The Real World: Denver: Colie Edison attended Tulane University.
• The Real World: New Orleans: The cast often socialized with Tulane students especially at The Boot Bar.
• In the A&E movie about Senator John McCain, the outside scenes of the Naval Academy were filmed at Tulane.

Movies

• Taxi Driver: In the scene where Robert De Niro's character shoots a robber saving the owner who is wearing a Tulane T-Shirt.
• The Pelican Brief: The 1992 John Grisham suspense/thriller The Pelican Brief, which involves a fictional second-year Tulane Law School student and her professor as characters, was adapted for a 1993 movie, also filmed on Tulane's uptown campus and the president's house at Two Audubon Place.
• The Brooke Ellison Story: Tulane's academic quad substituted for Harvard University's campus in Christopher Reeve's last film.
• Runaway Jury: The library of the Tulane President's House served as the judge's chambers.
• All the King's Men: Tulane's McAlister Auditorium hosted the U.S. premiere of the movie on September 16, 2006.
• Welcome to Academia: The University was one of the main filming locations.
• No Mercy: A Tulane sweatshirt is worn by William Atherton's character.
• JFK: Tulane Law School graduate Jim Garrison was played by Kevin Costner in this Oliver Stone film
• College (2008 film): The University was one of the filming locations.
• Living Proof, television film from 2008 starring Harry Connick, Jr.: The University was one of the filming locations.

Computer games

• Laura Bow Series by Sierra Entertainment (including games The Colonel's Bequest and The Dagger of Amon Ra): Laura Bow, the main character is a Tulane University student.
• Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers by Sierra Entertainment: Tulane University is one of the game locations.

References

External links

• Tulane University website