Dean Angelo S. DeNisi
As I write this, we have just concluded our largest commencement ceremony since the undergraduate class became part of Newcomb-Tulane College. We not only awarded diplomas to an outstanding MBA class, but we also gave degrees to a very large Master of Finance class, a large Master of Accounting class, students from several of our Executive MBA programs, students from international partner universities who received Master of Management degrees, and students in our new Master of Global Management program. Let me also add that we recently returned to the top 50 MBA programs in U.S. News and World Report, received another high ranking for entrepreneurship in Entrepreneur magazine, and earned a top 15 ranking in finance by the Princeton Review. So clearly there is much evidence that the Freeman School continues to thrive and prosper.
The coming year, however, will not be without challenges. Although Tulane has received a record number of applications, the university is feeling the strain of additional needs for financial aid, lower endowment earnings and greater difficulty in fund raising. These trends affect Freeman both directly and indirectly, so we expect another year of belt-tightening. Furthermore, the current economic downturn presents unique challenges to our students seeking employment.
Yet despite these issues, I see much to be optimistic about. Our faculty and staff have repeatedly demonstrated that they are willing to do whatever is needed. Enrollments in all of our graduate programs are at or above last year’s levels, and the quality of our students is outstanding. We have two new endowed chairs—the James W. McFarland Distinguished Chair in Business and the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Distinguished Chair in Finance—about to come online, and we are getting more requests for overseas programs than we can handle. Our new P.R. representative, Ben Haimowitz, has made TV stars of several of our faculty, and our corporate relations people—Kara Schonberg and Byron Kantrow—have been building new contacts with employers all around the country. We have begun discussions with Ken Schwartz, dean of the School of Architecture, about a possible master’s program in sustainable real estate development, and we are working on creating an energy finance program in Houston and a risk management program in New Orleans. Indeed, there is much to look forward to, and nothing has diminished my enthusiasm about what the Freeman school can accomplish.
I want to close with a quick note about the man on our cover, Charles Atwood. I have come to know Chuck reasonably well over the past few years, and I can say unequivocally he represents the best the Freeman School has to offer. Generously, he has decided to share some of his good fortune with us by endowing four professorships, and we plan to name the first Charles L. Atwood Professor this coming year. So I will end by thanking Chuck and everyone else who helped to make this a great year and who will help to make next year even better. Now if only those pesky hurricanes can stay away.
Angelo DeNisi
May 2009
