Tulane President Michael Fitts

About President Fitts

Michael A. Fitts, one of the country’s foremost higher education leaders, is the fifteenth president of Tulane University. Since joining Tulane in 2014, President Fitts has repositioned the university by capitalizing on its distinctive strengths: a unique history and location; an ideal size and academic structure; and an innovative and relational culture. Under his leadership, by leveraging these attributes Tulane has become a world-class academic environment that fosters path-breaking interdisciplinary research, innovative teaching, a welcoming campus culture, and a holistic student experience.

 

Promoting Pathbreaking Research across Disciplines

Founded as a medical college to combat the yellow fever epidemic in the early 19th century, Tulane’s research mission has always been outward-facing and focused on the public good. Fitts has revitalized this mission by encouraging the dramatic expansion of Tulane’s research enterprise to confront many of society’s most complex challenges–current and future.

 

During his tenure, Fitts has recruited over ten nationally acclaimed academic deans and a vice president for research. Concurrently, he has established ten endowed presidential chairs, recruiting some of the world’s most innovative thinkers and researchers to Tulane. He has bolstered administrative and financial support for research across the university while launching numerous groundbreaking interdisciplinary research centers and programs including the ByWater Institute, the Brain Institute, the Energy Institute, the Translational Science Institute, the Center for Clinical Research, the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science, the Center for Cellular and Molecular Diagnostics, the Center for Environmental Law, and Research Centers of Excellence in infectious disease, personalized health and genetic modifiers in medicine. These hubs for learning and discovery combine faculty from the breadth of Tulane’s schools and disciplines to work on many of the world’s most intractable problems, while also providing unique undergraduate and graduate research opportunities. As a result of these efforts, federal funding for Tulane research has risen by 74 percent over the past seven years, with similar growth expected over the next few years. In fall 2024, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Tulane’s uptown campus to announce a bipartisan cancer moonshot grant of up to $23 million to an interdisciplinary team of Tulane researchers. 

Tulane’s research efforts are resulting in a dramatic expansion of the downtown New Orleans campus, which may be the most ambitious university project to date. Previously home to three of the university’s schools, the new campus is ultimately expected to house four schools and a new nursing program, with over 20 buildings overall. In fall 2024, the university announced the naming of the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in recognition of landmark lifetime giving that will establish the school as one of the top such programs in the world. The School of Medicine is undergoing a comprehensive renovation of its research laboratories in the Hutchinson Building. Tulane is also moving forward with the redevelopment of the iconic Charity Hospital building as the hub of a new bioinnovation corridor. As the anchor institution of the million-square-foot building, Tulane will see a significant jump in its research capacity while creating new opportunities for collaboration and innovation. The revitalized Charity will also house the Innovation Institute, launched in 2022, which supports Tulane and community scientists and entrepreneurs in bringing groundbreaking innovations and ideas to market faster. The Charity redevelopment and the Innovation Institute launch are occurring simultaneously with the recent historic partnership of Tulane health with LCMC Health. These multiple initiatives, which dramatically expand the university’s medical footprint and capacity for translational research, are intended to improve health outcomes and make New Orleans a center for destination health. They are poised to have a transformative impact on the surrounding community— and the world.

Enhancing the Student Experience

Shortly after arriving at Tulane, Fitts established a task force to strategically consider ways to enhance the student experience. This work led to a number of initiatives that are transforming the ways students live, learn, and build community.

 

Fitts’ master plan for the university includes a new residential quadrangle known as “The Village,” which is dramatically increasing on-campus residential capacity while intertwining opportunities for living and learning. With faculty-in-residence, study lounges, a multipurpose theater and more, the new residential spaces enrich the student experience by promoting cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary, and social-academic interactions. Representing the completion of Phase I of The Village, River and Lake Halls came online in fall 2023, with Phase II— Avron and Wendy Fogelman Hall and Bayou Hall— scheduled to open in fall 2025. In addition, as president, Fitts has increased funding for and launched new programs to support career services, academic advising, success services, and student retention.

Fitts believes that the most innovative teaching, learning, and research occur when examining issues through a variety of lenses across different fields. He has encouraged the development of new pathways for high-achieving undergraduates including the College Scholars Program, which pairs sophomores with faculty mentors to explore critical issues and build community, and the Tenenbaum Tutorials, which connect students with faculty tutors who supervise independent research projects. Students also benefit from personalized guidance from the new Office of Fellowships Advising, which supports them through the process of applying to nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships.

Tulane’s unmatched student experience, discipline-spanning curriculum and unique, relational culture have triggered a surge in interest by prospective students. As a result, the university’s selectivity has dramatically increased, with the percentage of undergraduate students admitted dropping from 25 percent in 2016 to 14 percent in 2024. At the same time, the number of accepted students who choose to attend Tulane has roughly doubled– from 23 percent in 2016 to 41 percent in 2024.

Graduate student life is enriched by the new, centrally located downtown apartments at Thirteen15, which features study and social spaces along with Chapter IV, the newest restaurant from the legendary Chase family. The Wave City Market food hall and the new downtown fitness center are additional steps towards realizing Fitts’ vision of a cohesive downtown campus that builds community and offers a comprehensive set of amenities for students, as well as faculty and staff. Graduate admissions are also on the rise, thanks to unparalleled opportunities for graduate students to work with world-class researchers to solve the world’s problems while engaging with the vibrant culture and community of New Orleans.

Supporting Academic Excellence and Opportunity

Fitts recognizes that the hallmark of a great university is the pursuit of academic excellence, and that this goal is advanced by bringing together students, faculty, and staff from a broad array of backgrounds to live, learn, and discover. He is committed to advancing intellectual rigor, learning, and scholarship by growing opportunities and building a welcoming environment for all members of our community. 

 

Since joining Tulane, Fitts has increased financial aid and invested in programs to make a Tulane education more accessible and affordable to students from all backgrounds. One such program, Louisiana Promise, was launched to provide debt-free financial aid packages to Louisiana high school graduates whose families make less than $100,000.  

As noted above, Fitts has worked to ensure that all Tulane students have the support they need to thrive, overseeing the expansion and strengthening of services ranging from academic advising to career counseling to success coaching. The Office of Academic Excellence and Opportunity was created to forge partnerships with programs, schools, and departments university-wide to promote success and positive outcomes for all students and employees.

To support and grow Tulane’s faculty and staff, the Tulane Leadership Institute was launched to identify and nurture future university leaders. Offering a robust menu of experiential leadership programs, evidence-based coaching, and professional development assessments, the institute’s three tracks are designed to align individual professional growth with university values and aspirations. 

Creating a Vibrant, Renewed Physical Campus

Fitts initiated the creation of a master plan for a 21st-century campus redesigned to spark creative collisions, foster collaborations, and build community. Under his leadership, Tulane’s campuses are undergoing $1 billion in additions and upgrades.

 

In downtown New Orleans, where the university has long had a presence, Tulane is transforming from a collection of buildings into a vibrant, bustling, downtown university community. Recently completed capital projects downtown include a new university police station, the Stewart Center for Executive Education, the TUFit Downtown Fitness Center, Wave City Market food hall, Chapter IV restaurant, and Thirteen15 graduate student housing. The Carol Lavin Bernick Downtown Investment fund, established in 2023, is transforming the downtown campus with $5 million dedicated to encouraging collaboration, socializing and community through major landscaping and streetscaping improvements. Tulane’s long-term plans downtown include the redevelopment of the iconic Charity Hospital building. As the anchor institution, Tulane will gain essential new laboratories and research spaces, classrooms, and administrative offices, including the permanent home of the new Innovation Institute. The mixed-use building will also house apartments, retail space, and dining, drawing in the surrounding community. New additions to Tulane’s picturesque uptown campus include the Malkin Sacks Commons, a state-of-the-art, 77,000-square-foot dining facility connected to the Lavin-Bernick Center for Student Life; the Goldring-Woldenberg Business Complex; Mussafer Hall, which unites academic advising, career programming and success services under one roof; the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library; the Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Engineering, including three floors of interdisciplinary research labs; the Don and Lora Peters Academic Center for student-athletes; renovation of the Richardson Building as a new home for the Carolyn Barber-Pierre Center for Intercultural Life and School of Professional Advancement; a comprehensive renovation of Richardson Memorial Hall, home of the School of Architecture; and The Village, a new undergraduate housing quadrangle that will include four brand-new residential buildings, representing the largest capital investment in Tulane’s history.

At the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center in Covington, Louisiana, the university recently completed a $6 million renovation to its surgical facility, adding advanced imaging capacity, four biosafety level-2 laboratories, and expanded office space. In summer 2024, the university broke ground on a new administrative building to enhance the work environment for faculty and staff who have operated from temporary buildings as the center’s growth outpaced its physical footprint.