Pelican State News

When President Michael A. Fitts arrived at Tulane in 2014, he came  with a vision to transform the university into one of the country’s  pre-eminent academic institutions. Over the past eight years, by  leveraging its unique location, culture, people and structure, he has  moved Tulane to the next level of academic excellence and elevated its  national stature as a leader in interdisciplinary teaching, learning,  research and public service. In furthering his vision, Fitts has worked  to make Tulane a more supportive home for all by prioritizing equity,  diversity and inclusion as a focus of his administration. By harnessing  the power of knowledge for the greater good and promoting a growth  mindset, he has helped spur unprecedented innovation and discovery  throughout the university. And he has won accolades for successfully  guiding the university through the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath  of Hurricane Ida.          

In recognition of his successes and the potential to bring the  university to even greater heights, the Board of Tulane voted  unanimously at its June meeting to extend Fitts’ term as president,  ensuring that he will continue at the helm of the university until at  least 2026.

“When an organization is on a run of success, you can sense the  passion, the excitement, on the part of everyone involved,” said Carol  Lavin Bernick, CEO of Polished Nickel Capital Management and chair of  the Board of Tulane. “President Fitts came to Tulane with a clear plan  and strategy on how Tulane could realize its fullest potential and value  as a force for good. He is achieving this plan and has inspired the  entire Tulane community to move the university ever forward.”

Fitts said he is “deeply honored” by the Board’s action.

“I am as enthusiastic about leading this institution as I was on the  first day of my presidency,” Fitts said. “The progress, growth and  upward trajectory of Tulane is the result of the efforts of the most  incredible students, faculty and staff anywhere. Together, I know we  will continue to dramatically strengthen our scholarship, teaching and  research.”

Fitts realized his vision by focusing on a number of clear goals to  put the university on a path of rapid growth and forward momentum. He  expanded and deepened Tulane’s teaching, learning and research by  leveraging the university’s unique qualities. He focused on attracting  the best, brightest and most diverse students, faculty and staff, and  enhancing the quintessential Tulane undergraduate experience, including  working to build a more welcoming, diverse, equitable and inclusive  university for all. Complementing these efforts, Fitts also increased  financial support for leading interdisciplinary academic programs  throughout the university while making major improvements and expansions  to the footprint of the university.

These efforts turned out to be game-changers for Tulane.

The first order of business when Fitts arrived in 2014 was to  strengthen the university’s financial standing. After conducting a  thorough operational review, he balanced Tulane’s budget and oversaw the  university’s transition to a responsibility-centered management  financial model. These efforts gained attention in the national media  with Forbes declaring, “Among top-tier colleges, few have improved in  financial strength as much as New Orleans’ Tulane University.”                                

Through Only the Audacious, The campaign for an ever bolder Tulane,  Fitts has inspired unprecedented support from alumni and friends across  the globe, substantially increasing philanthropic support for the  university. As a result, the campaign surpassed its record-setting $1.3  billion goal ahead of schedule, prompting the university to set a new  goal of $1.5 billion. Through this fundraising success and strategic  financial efforts, Tulane’s endowment has doubled.

The financial overhaul and the Only the Audacious campaign  helped power progress in Fitts’ other priority areas, including  transforming teaching and learning. To this end, Tulane has greatly  expanded and enhanced graduate offerings and restructured the  undergraduate honors program to require that students engage in  long-term interdisciplinary research and community service. To further  enhance teaching and learning, Fitts brought some of the country’s  foremost academic leaders to Tulane, as cabinet members and deans. He  also launched new programs to support career services, academic  advising, and student retention. A new residential quadrangle, opening  in fall 2022, will expand Tulane’s academically themed Residential  Learning Communities, which enrich the student experience through  cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary and social-academic interactions.

As a result of his student-centric model, every incoming class  throughout Fitts’ term has broken records in the number of applications,  academic achievement and diversity. Fitts has more than doubled annual  spending on equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, hired the  university’s first chief diversity officer and launched the Presidential  Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. He has also  created pipeline programs to make a Tulane education more accessible to  students from all backgrounds.           

Another Fitts initiative, the Tulane Trailblazers program, celebrates  accomplished, diverse Tulanians through the naming of professorships,  scholarships and other honors. Fitts also launched the Tulane Leadership  Institute in 2021 to identify and nurture future university leaders.

Tulane’s research enterprise has grown exponentially through Fitts’  promotion of path-breaking interdisciplinary discovery. Sponsored  research awards at Tulane increased more than 50 percent under Fitts. He  has established nine endowed presidential chairs to be filled with some  of the world’s most innovative thinkers and researchers. He has  launched numerous interdisciplinary research centers, including the  ByWater Institute, the Department of River and Coastal Studies, the  Brain Institute, and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Diagnostics.  He has also supported entities such as the Center for Environmental Law  and the Center for Energy Law.

Under Fitts’ leadership, Tulane’s campuses are undergoing $1 billion  in construction and renovations. This includes The Commons, a  state-of-the-art dining, meeting, studying and gathering place for  students that opened in 2019 and was the university’s largest  construction project since Yulman Stadium. Fitts’ master plan includes  the renovation of every existing residence hall on campus — a project  well underway.

While growing its uptown campus in new and exciting ways and  enhancing its National Primate Research Center on the North Shore, Fitts  has set Tulane on a historic expansion in downtown New Orleans anchored  by the transformation of the Charity Hospital building into a hub of  learning, innovation and discovery with laboratories, classrooms,  offices and more. The building will also include the Tulane Innovation  Institute, a new center designed to bring Tulane breakthroughs and  discoveries to market faster while supporting venture creation and  spurring economic development throughout New Orleans and beyond.

“Cities throughout the country have been transformed from their core  outward thanks to the presence of a national research university located  in their downtown,” Fitts said. “We have a once-in-a-generation  opportunity to transform New Orleans into a center of biotech innovation  that will reap huge economic benefits for our region while creating the  latest advances in medicines, diagnosis and outcomes for individuals  throughout the world. This is a major part of what makes me so excited  for the future of Tulane.”

Original source can be found here.