July 5, 2022
Dear Tulane Community:
When an organization is on a run of success, you can sense the passion and the excitement on the part of everyone involved. This has certainly been the case at Tulane University under the leadership of President Mike Fitts. This is why I am so pleased to announce that the Board of Tulane has voted unanimously to extend President Fitts’ term, ensuring that he will continue at the helm of the university until at least 2026.
President Fitts arrived at Tulane in 2014 with a clear 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. He has also won accolades for successfully guiding the university through the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
On every measure of success, President Fitts has moved our beloved university forward. Every incoming class throughout his term has broken all records in the number of applications, academic achievement and diversity. Under his leadership, sponsored research awards have increased more than 50 percent, our endowment has doubled, fundraising is at an all-time high and we are in the midst of a historic transformation of the physical structure of both the uptown and downtown campuses.
The greatest outcome of all these achievements is the difference they have made in the lives of our community, both locally and globally. This includes teaching and learning that inspires students to bring positive change to the world, research that improves and saves lives, state-of-the-art buildings that provide the physical space for excellence and innovation – and the fundraising that supports it all.
It has been an amazing eight years and we can’t wait to see what President Fitts has in store for the future. My Board colleagues and I are so pleased to take this action to secure President Fitts’ leadership for years to come. We hail his success in furthering his vision, which we all share, for Tulane and eagerly await his plans to bring the university to even greater heights.
Carol Lavin Bernick
Chair, Board of Tulane
