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"New Orleans needs engineers now more than ever, and Tulane's actions are another step in their quest to turn their back on the city that they were founded to support."
--David O'Reilly, Dec. 22, 2005
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Civil engineering out the door
December 11, 2005
I am a Louisiana Board of Regents Fellow in the civil engineering department at Tulane University. I was scheduled to begin my doctoral studies at Tulane two days after the hurricane hit our region. When Tulane's future was uncertain, I declined to transfer to another institution because I wanted to work in New Orleans this semester to help the city and my family recover.
As the spring semester approached, I felt a sense of purpose because I knew that I would have the chance to be at the forefront of civil engineering research projects that could potentially avert a disaster of this magnitude in the future. It turns out I was wrong.
The president of Tulane University has decided that it would be in the best interest of the university to cut civil, environmental, mechanical and computer engineering. No other institution in New Orleans offers a Ph.D. in civil engineering, so if I want to continue my studies, I have to move.
David O'Reilly
New Orleans
Copyright 2005, The Times-Picayune
On June 30, 2007 Tulane University quietly closed its Civil Engineering Department.
- Katherine Kleinpeter Raymond, "Engineers built foundation," The Times-Picayune [Letter], New Orleans, July 5, 2007, Metro, p. 6.
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From: The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA, December 11, 2005 (source: http://www.nola.com). Reprinted in accordance with the "fair use" provision of Title 17 U.S.C. § 107 for a non-profit educational purpose.
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