Tulane University

About Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as a public medical college in 1834, the school grew into a full university and was eventually privatized under the endowments of Paul Tulane and Josephine Louise Newcomb in the late 19th century. It is the only American university that has been converted from a public institution to a private institution.

The University dates from 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. With the addition of a law department, it became The University of Louisiana in 1847, a public university. 1851 saw the establishment of an Academic Department, the forerunner of the College of Arts and Sciences. Two significant scientific innovations were made by faculty at the University at this time. J. Lawrence Smith invented the inverted microscope in 1850, and John L. Riddell invented the first practical microscope to allow binocular viewing through a single objective lens in 1851.

The University closed for three years during the Civil War; after reopening, it went through a period of financial challenges. Paul Tulane donated extensive real estate within New Orleans for the support of education; this donation led to the establishment of a Tulane Educational Fund (TEF), whose board of administrators sought to support the University of Louisiana instead of establishing a new university. In response, through the influence of former Civil War general Randall Lee Gibson, the Louisiana state legislature transferred control of the University of Louisiana to the administrators of the TEF in 1884. This act created the Tulane University of Louisiana.