TULANE TALK

April 23, 2010

Good Morning:

This week I had the opportunity to meet with senior members of President Barack Obama’s administration including Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Melody Barnes, the president’s domestic policy adviser; and John Holdren, adviser to the president for science and technology.

These meetings, with the exception of the one with Melody Barnes, which was held in the West Wing, were part of the Association of American Universities’ spring meeting, a gathering of 63 select research universities. Through these meetings we learned the Obama administration’s priorities for the nation in terms of science, technology and domestic policy and the role AAU universities can play in achieving them.

The meeting with Melody Barnes proved particularly fruitful, as she showed much interest in Tulane’s work in the areas of social innovation and entrepreneurship, especially our efforts to continually broaden and strengthen Tulane’s community engagement initiatives. Melody Barnes plans to visit Tulane in the fall to learn more about these efforts and share her insights.

I will cap off this exciting week by meeting tomorrow with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo and the leaders of New Orleans-area universities. The meeting will focus on expanding educational opportunities for Honduran students.

Have a great weekend,