Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, one of the country’s fastest-growing business schools, welcomed 2018 with a bang: the opening of a $35 million expansion that includes 80,000 square feet of new and renovated space on Tulane University’s Uptown campus.
The expansion was designed to address a range of strategic goals. The physical plant accommodates what Solomon calls the “tremendous, unprecedented demand for business education” the school has seen over the last six to eight years, while its design reflects the vision for a contemporary learning environment built upon openness, collaboration and community.
Solomon and his colleagues are continually refreshing the school’s curriculum to ensure “a Tulane and Freeman School difference” designed to set the school apart from other top programs and offer students leading-edge business learning. They have accomplished this in part through programs that tap into the city’s unique offerings.
“Connectivity to the New Orleans business community is in our DNA,” said Solomon. “Our students get out into the city and it provides a wonderful learning laboratory.”
One example is the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which helps students develop the skills to be successful entrepreneurs and nurtures the city’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“More and more highly-qualified young women and men are coming to New Orleans to study business, many of them with ideas about being entrepreneurs, and this gives New Orleans a chance to capture them longer term,” said Solomon. The Freeman School recently finalized a partnership with Idea Village to co-lead New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), which will give students a new way to explore entrepreneurship in real-life settings.
In early 2019, the Freeman School will expand its footprint with the Stewart Center CBD. Co-located with the New Orleans Culinary Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) the facility will offer several customized programs, including: entrepreneurial hospitality, designed to help students develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in industries (hotels, restaurants and beyond) that rely upon customer experience; an executive MBA; and non-degree educational programming to serve local startups or established businesses.
Solomon’s outlook for 2019 is nothing but positive. “It’s a wonderful time for Tulane and the Freeman School.”
