Lisa P. Jackson – SSE ’83
Lisa P. Jackson grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering in 1983 with a BS in chemical engineering. After completing her undergraduate studies, she earned an MS in chemical engineering from Princeton University. Following her studies at Princeton, Lisa began what would become a long and accomplished career at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), eventually serving in President Obama’s cabinet as EPA’s Administrator from 2009 – 2013. As EPA Administrator, Lisa focused on reducing greenhouse gases, protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination, and expanding outreach to communities on environmental issues. Building upon this work, Lisa joined Apple as the Vice President, Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. In this role, Lisa oversees Apple’s efforts to minimize its impact on the environment and is also responsible for Apple’s education policy programs, product accessibility work, and worldwide government affairs. Lisa serves on the Board of Tulane and was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Women Making Waves conference, an annual women’s leadership conference hosted by Tulane’s Office of Alumni Relations.
Tim Wise – SLA ‘90
Tim Wise was born and raised in Nashville, TN and graduated from Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts in 1990 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Latin American Studies. Tim became active in anti-racist organizing as a student at Tulane, and worked for several New Orleans and Louisiana-based institutions after graduating, including the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism. In the years following, Tim became one of the most prolific writers on anti-racism of our time, authoring seven books, creating and hosting the podcast “Speak Out with Tim Wise,” and speaking to audiences on over 1,000 college and high school campuses. Tim regularly appears on CNN and MSNBC to discuss issues related to race.
Doug Ellin – SLA ’90
Doug Ellin is from New York and graduated from Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts in 1990. After graduating from Tulane, Doug attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He worked on several projects before creating the hit television series Entourage, which ran on HBO for eight seasons, debuting in 2004 and closing in 2011. He earned three Emmy nominations, four Writers Guild of America award nominations, three Producers Guild of America (PGA) award nominations, and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award nominations, winning one PGA and BAFTA award for his work on Entourage. Following the conclusion of the television series, Doug wrote and produced the 2015 film adaptation of Entourage.
Perry Chen – A.B. Freeman ‘98
Perry Chen was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business in 1998. While Perry was at Tulane, he started DJing and composing electronic music. His work in the music industry inspired him to start Kickstarter, a global crowdfunding platform for creative projects that he founded in 2009. Shortly thereafter, TIME named Kickstarter one of the best inventions of the year. To date, Kickstarter has received over $4.6 billion in pledges from 17.2 million backers to fund 445,000 creative projects spanning film, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, technology, publishing, and food. Today, Perry Chen is Kickstarter’s Board Chair and lives in Paris, where he continues to pursue creative projects.
