Scott Cowen’s ‘Winnebagos on Wednesdays’ shares hard-won leadership lessons

by Missy Wilkinson | The New Orleans Advocate
In “Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Leadership Can Transform Higher Education,” (Princeton University Press), Scott Cowen acknowledges that in many ways, he fits the mold of the typical university president. He's a white male baby boomer with a Ph.D. — like the vast majority of university presidents, according to a 2016 study by the American Council on Education. But Cowen also points out his major points of difference — differences that may have engendered his innovative approach to leadership.

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Scott Cowen on Winnebagos on Wednesdays

by Princeton University Press Blog

In Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Leadership Can Transform Higher Education, Scott Cowen, president emeritus of Tulane University, acknowledges the crisis in higher education but also presents reasons for optimism as courageous leaders find innovative strategies to solve the thorny problems they face. Telling stories of failure and triumph drawn from institutions all across the nation, Cowen takes the reader on a fascinating trip through varied terrain. Recently, Cowen answered some questions about his book and what he sees as a burgeoning opportunity to reshape higher education for the future.

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The man who helped rebuild New Orleans after Katrina gives FEMA high marks on Harvey in Houston

by Matthew Belvedere | CNBC
The Federal Emergency Management Agency — roundly criticized for its response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — has been "much more effective" in dealing with the tragedy unfolding from Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area, said Scott Cowen, the former president of Tulane University who had helped lead rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. "The level of preparedness is better than it's ever been before," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. Cowen should know, because Katrina in 2005 flooded 70 percent of Tulane, which forced the university to close for a whole semester. The school suffered more than $650 million in damages.

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Scott Cowen Teaches Leadership

by Mary Sparacello | Tulane New Wave
It is a Tuesday morning, and Scott Cowen is engaging Tulane University undergraduates in a spirited discussion on a topic he knows well: leadership. President Emeritus and Distinguished University Chair Cowen asks the students probing questions and peppers his lecture with anecdotes from his own experience as well as erudite references to articles and books.

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The Mythology and Reality of Leadership – Scott Cowen is teaching course at Tulane

The purpose of Dr. Cowen's course is to develop the next generation of leaders for our country and the world. The study of leadership begins with a conceptual understanding of the genealogies and evolution of leadership theory. It follows with students gaining practical knowledge about different leadership styles, traits, and characteristics through case studies and personal interactions with proven leaders. The course also creates an opportunity for students to assess and demonstrate their leadership capabilities and to develop a personal leadership plan for the future...

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Tulane President Stood Up to Hurricane Katrina—and Won

by Claire Hall | University of Connecticut School of Business Website
When Tulane University President Scott Cowen bid farewell to the Class of 2005, he had no idea that in just four months, everything the then-171-year-old university embodied would be in jeopardy. When Hurricane Katrina, the historic and catastrophic Category 5 hurricane, made landfall in New Orleans, and the levees could no longer contain the water, parts of the Tulane campus became a lake. The Big Easy was in shambles. More than 1,500 people died in Louisiana alone. The school’s 13,000 students, and nearly 7,000 employees, packed up and left. “I don’t think I’m up to the task,” Cowen recalls telling his wife, Marjorie, in a discussion about rebuilding the university just a week after the disaster. “I don’t know where to begin.” “Somehow I searched for the internal fortitude to help guide the city, and the university, back on the right path.”

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Heroes of the Recovery

by Laura Claverie | New Orleans Magazine
It is often said that in the darkest of times heroes emerge. Through wars, economic downturns and natural disasters, Americans have learned this harsh lesson well. No city knows more about dark times and the heroes that are spawned than New Orleans. Every person who came home after the Hurricane Katrina diaspora and rolled up his or her sleeves and rebuilt this city is a hero. Every family member who cared for evacuees is a hero. But it took the innovation and courage of some local residents to take charge of our citizen-led recovery. These New Orleanians are some of the heroes who saw a need and filled it with energy, vision, selflessness and unsinkable spirit. Today, New Orleans is more galvanized and nimble than ever in its history. If the adage “out of bad comes good” is correct, these are some of the extraordinary local heroes who represented all that was good in this city’s darkest moment.

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Scott Cowen returns to Case Western Reserve University as trustee

by Timothy Magaw | Crain's Cleveland Business
Scott Cowen — a nationally respected higher education leader who once served as dean of the Weatherhead School of Management — is coming home in a sense as a new trustee at Case Western Reserve University. Cowen retired earlier this year as president of Tulane University in New Orleans. His tenure at Case Western Reserve — first as a faculty member, then as the Weatherhead dean — spanned more than two decades. “Scott brings a unique blend of experience within Case Western Reserve and as a nationally respected leader in higher education,” board chairman Chuck Fowler said in a news release. “We are delighted that he now will bring us all of that knowledge and insight as a trustee.”

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MSNBC Interview with Andrea Mitchell

Andrea Mitchell talks to former Tulane University president Scott Cowen about his new book “The Inevitable City,” which tells the story of the resurgence of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Walter Isaacson also joins the conversation.

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Nine years past Katrina, Scott Cowen reflects on the New Orleans school ‘experiment’: HuffPo

By Danielle Dreilinger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Former Tulane University President Scott Cowen cheers the massive changes in the New Orleans education system that followed Hurricane Katrina in a Huffington Post essay. In the fall of 2005, the state took over 80 percent of the city's public schools. "The turnaround of New Orleans' public schools -- only 5.7 percent are now failing compared to 65 percent pre-Katrina -- has been critical to the resurgence of the city as a whole," he wrote in the days leading up to the ninth anniversary of the storm.

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