The next era of business education at Tulane University has begun.
In May, the A. B. Freeman School of Business officially kicked off a major expansion and renovation project designed to meet the changing needs of business education in the 21st century. This transformative project will add about 45,000 square feet of stateof- the-art space to the business school, enabling us to offer 10 new classrooms, over 300 new classroom seats, more than 30 new breakout spaces, a new Financial Analysis Lab, and dramatically larger suites for undergraduate advising and the Career Management Center. Beyond the physical expansion, this project will allow us to enhance both the size and scope of our educational programs and create remarkable new learning opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. The Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, for example, will feature offices for entrepreneurs-in-residence as well as a new venture incubator that will support businesses and technologies developed at Tulane.
It goes without saying that this exciting project would not be possible without the support of our alumni and friends, so I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped to make this idea a reality. If you’d like to learn more about the building or make a contribution, please visit http://expansion.tulane.edu.
The cover story of this issue of Freeman profiles Bill Goldring (BBA ’64), chairman of the Sazerac Co. and a longtime member of the Board of Tulane and the Business School Council. Bill’s name is of course well known to all of us: He and his family provided anchor gifts for the construction of both Goldring/Woldenberg Hall I, in 1986, and Goldring/Woldenberg Hall II, in 2003. Two years ago, when I first approached Bill with our proposal to expand the Freeman School’s footprint, he was unequivocal in his support and through his two philanthropic organizations, the Goldring Family Foundation and the Woldenberg Foundation, he committed to providing an anchor gift for construction. In my experience, I can’t think of another individual who has provided an institution with anchor gifts for three different building projects over 30 years. Bill’s support of the Freeman School is truly extraordinary, and I’m delighted that the new building will be known as the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex.
While it’s certainly occupying much of our time, the expansion project isn’t our only news. In July, we welcomed another five tenure-system professors to our faculty, the latest in our ongoing faculty enhancement initiative. We are also continuing to innovate with respect to educational programs, both in the delivery of existing programs and the creation of new programs like our accelerated MD/MBA. While it’s still too early to make any announcements, expect to see more new, innovative programs in the coming years.
In closing, as many of you probably know, I recently accepted reappointment for a second five-year term as dean of the Freeman School. The last five years has been an incredibly exciting time for the Freeman School and me personally. We have dramatically increased our enrollments, added outstanding new faculty, launched innovative new programs, raised millions of dollars and earned prestigious national honors. I couldn’t be happier or more satisfied with the tremendous progress we’ve made. But as exhilarating and rewarding as the last five years has been, the next five years promises to be a time of even greater accomplishments. With your support and involvement, we are truly building a world-class center for business education and an institution of which we can all be proud.
Ira Solomon, dean, A. B. Freeman School of Business
