Scott S. Cowen (born 27 July 1946) is the President Emeritus and Distinguished University Chair of

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, where he was also Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor in the A.B. Freeman School of Business and professor of economics in Tulane's School of Liberal Arts. He most recently served as the Interim President of

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

from 2020-2021. He has written more than a hundred

peer-reviewed journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

articles and five books. His most recent book, ''Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Leadership Can Transform Higher Education'', was published by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent Academic publishing, publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, ...

in 2018. Cowen is the eponym of Tulane's Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives. Cowen served as Tulane’s 14th president from July 1998 through June 2014.

Background

Son of Helen Cowen and Stanley Cowen, Scott Cowen finished his secondary education at Metuchen High School, New Jersey. Upon graduation in 1964 he was cited as "the student who had done the most" for Metuchen High.John Pope
"Tireless recovery efforts garner T-P Loving Cup"
in ''Times-Picayune'', 2010 April 4, Metro Edition, pp. A1, A8 (accessed 2010 April 4). In 2016 Cowen was inducted into the inaugural Metuchen High School Hall of Fame. Cowen was recruited by

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

to play football for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, where later-legendary Holtz was briefly serving as an assistant coach. After receiving his bachelor of science degree from

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

in 1968, Cowen entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Infantry Officer Candidate School and served for three years as an infantry officer. He was assigned to the

Army Security Agency The United States Army Security Agency (ASA) was the United States Army's signals intelligence branch from 1945 to 1976. The Latin motto of the Army Security Agency was ''Semper Vigiles'' (Vigilant Always), which echoes the declaration, often ...

where he spent a tour of duty in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. On discharge he enrolled in

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

, where he received his master of business administration (MBA) in finance and doctor of business administration (DBA) in finance and management. After a brief stint as an instructor at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

, he began a 23-year career starting as an assistant professor and finished as dean and Albert J. Weatherhead Professor of Management in the

Weatherhead School of Management The Weatherhead School of Management is a private business school of Case Western Reserve University located in Cleveland, Ohio. Weatherhead offers programs concentrated in sustainability, design innovation, healthcare, organizational behavior, gl ...

. Cowen chaired the

Posse Foundation The Posse Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that partners with select colleges and universities in the United States to provide student scholarships and leadership training. Posse connects a network of more than 10,000 scholars and ...

’s New Orleans Advisory Board and is a current or former director of several public and private companies including, most recently,

American Greetings American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electroni ...

, Barnes & Noble, Parkwood Corporation,

Forest City Realty Trust Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings, shopping centers and apartments in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and the greater metropolitan areas of New York ...

, and

Newell Brands Newell Brands is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage and trash containers; home organization and reusable container products; Conti ...

. He has served on a number of nonprofit boards including

, the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

, and the Weatherhead, Mandel, and Marcus Foundations, respectively, Cowen also serves as an overseer of

TIAA-CREF The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...

, trustee emeritus of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, and a senior advisor to the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three larges ...

. He is a former president of the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...

(AACSB) and former chair of the

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ...

. He currently is a member of the

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, often referred to simply as the Knight Commission, is a panel of American academic, athletic and sports leaders, with an eye toward reform of college athletics, particularly in regard to emphasi ...

. In February 2018, Cowen published his most recent book,

President of Tulane

Prior to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Cowen was known in

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

as a supporter of reform in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) to bolster academics involving athletes and also to open

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includ ...

(BCS) eligibility to teams in conferences such as

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

(C-USA) to which Tulane belonged. Cowen supported efforts "to get rid of the BCS and go to a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

system."

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina and flood waters resulting from the levee's failures hit Tulane's uptown and downtown campuses shortly after the start of the 2005 fall semester. Cowen led Tulane through a rebuilding and academic reorganization, during which the decision to merge and eliminate

Newcomb College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her dau ...

's quasi-selfstanding character wholly into Tulane was criticized, as was also the decision to eliminate several departments in the School of Engineering and merge its remaining departments with the science departments in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.http://renewal.tulane.edu/renewalplan.pdf This resulted in a new School of Science and Engineering as well as a new undergraduate college, Newcomb-Tulane College, and a restructured School of Liberal Arts. At the same time, Tulane became the first and only major private research university to incorporate public service into its core curriculum. Cowen was critical of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exe ...

(FEMA) and the

State of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...

for their handling of Katrina recovery. In the plans to reconstruct New Orleans' Charity Hospital, Cowen's defended the need for Tulane Medical Center's representation on Charity's board, which resulted in the

Louisiana State University System The Louisiana State University System is a system of public colleges and universities in Louisiana. It is budgetarily the largest public university system in the state. William F. Tate IV is president of the LSU system, and also serves as chanc ...

to depart from earlier plans to monopolize the board appointments and instead to seek accommodation with Tulane,

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic ...

, and three other institutions in

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of ...

Southern University at New Orleans Southern University at New Orleans (also known as SUNO) is a public historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the Southern University System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Southern University w ...

, and

Delgado Community College Delgado Community College (DCC) is a public community college in Louisiana with campuses throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area. Its current campuses are in New Orleans (Orleans Parish) and in Jefferson Parish. The original main campus—Ci ...

). Cowen was appointed to the city’s Bring New Orleans Back Commission and charged with leading a committee to reform and rebuild the city’s failing public school system. This assignment led to the creation of a new institute at Tulane focused on advancing public education and youth success. Cowen also is a co-founder of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors program, a group of New Orleans civic leaders dedicated to spreading the message nationwide that post-Katrina New Orleans is an economically viable, livable city with a recovery plan in progress, and was a commissioner of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

Continuing challenges

In 2009 Cowen represented Louisiana's 10 private colleges and universities when he testified in the

Louisiana legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...

against a bill that provided for concealed weapons on campuses. In 2010, both before and after the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

disaster in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

, Cowen testified, successfully, in the Commerce Committee of the

Louisiana senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is composed ...

, against a bill by

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 ...

Robert Adley Robert James Adley (2 March 1935 – 13 May 1993) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom and railway enthusiast. In the 1970s Adley was part-time Marketing Director for Holiday Inn (UK). He would brief his agency (Alexander ...

to terminate funding for the Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic. Tulane Commencement 2013 Sabree Hill-195 Dalai Lama Scott Cowen

Also in 2010 Cowen increased his attention to Tulane's athletics program, including a joint announcement with athletics director

Rick Dickson Rick Dickson (born June 14, 1954) is in his 2nd stint as the athletic director at Tulsa. He previously served as the AD at Tulane University from 2000 through 2015. After taking over in 2000, Tulane teams have since won nine Conference USA Cham ...

that Tulane would build a new practice facility for basketball and volleyball and recognition that Tulane "must get better" in all its athletics programs and especially men's basketball and football. The message announced that Tulane in

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sc ...

2011-2012 would be back up to the 16 athletics teams fielded prior to Katrina.

Awards and honors

Cowen was one of four US recipients of the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

Academic Leadership Awards in 2009. Cowen dedicated the $500,000 award to Tulane's community-related activities, including the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives, the Center for Public Service that coordinates the university's

service-learning Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs. Service-learning involves students in service proje ...

requirements, and social entrepreneurship professorships. The Carnegie Corporation cited Cowen's leadership in New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In 2009,

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

named Cowen one of the nation’s top "10 Best College Presidents". The following year, Cowen was appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

to the

White House Council for Community Solutions The White House Council for Community Solutions was created by executive order of US President Barack Obama on December 14, 2010. Under the terms of the order, the Council will be dissolved within two years unless its establishment is affirmed by th ...

, which advised the President on ways to reconnect young people who are neither working nor in school. Cowen is also a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

. Recipient of the

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

Loving Cup A loving cup is a shared drinking container traditionally used at weddings and banquets. It usually has two handles and is often made of silver. Loving cups are often given as trophies to winners of games or competitions. Background Loving cups ...

for 2010, Cowen was also recognized as New Orleanian of the Year in 2011 by

Gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe si ...

newspaper, Louisianian of the Year in Louisiana Life magazine, and one of the 300 most important people in the 300-year history of New Orleans by the

. Cowen holds honorary doctorates from the

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

, and

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

universities as well as several other universities.

Personal life

Cowen's wife of 30 years, Marjorie Feldman Cowen, passed away on December 16, 2019. They have four grown children and five grandchildren. Scott and Marjorie Cowen were credited by

Mary Matalin Mary Joe Matalin (born August 19, 1953) is an American political consultant well known for her work with the Republican Party. She has served under President Ronald Reagan, was campaign director for George H. W. Bush, was an assistant to Presi ...

for swaying her to relocate to New Orleans. They convinced Matalin that her husband

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...

was right about the merits of moving their family to New Orleans. After having breakfast with the Cowens, Matalin went shopping for a house.Daniel Monteverde
Political odd couple takes stage at Tulane graduation
''Times-Picayune'', 2008 May 18 (accessed 2009 May 1). See also Stephanie Bruno with photographs by

Ted Jackson Ted M. Jackson (born 1956) is an American photojournalist, writer and public speaker who has spent over three decades exploring the human condition while covering news, sports and features for the '' Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

The president's residence
''Times-Picayune'', 2007 November 04 (accessed 2009 May 02).

Notes

External links

Official bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowen, Scott 1946 births Living people UConn Huskies football players Forest City Realty Trust Freeman School of Business faculty George Washington University School of Business alumni Jewish American academics Metuchen High School alumni People from Metuchen, New Jersey Players of American football from New Orleans Players of American football from Cleveland Presidents of Tulane University Tulane University faculty United States Army officers University of Connecticut alumni