Scott Nolan

Scott N. Nolan is a Professor of Practice in American Politics. His courses focus on courts, law, public policy, LGBTQ people and issues, as well as methods of political research.

He earned his B.A. in Political Science with Pre-Law Concentration from the University of New Orleans in 2007, his M.A. in 2013, and his Ph.D. in 2019.

From 2001 to 2015, while earning his degrees going to school part-time, he worked full-time as a paralegal and then office manager doing complex civil litigation, trial, and appellate work in the fields of tortious and personal injury, family law, corporate law, real estate law, Qui Tam actions arising under the U.S. False Claims Act, and especially medical malpractice and healthcare law.

Since 2002, while earning his degrees, he worked part-time as a federally contracted Weather Observer [Aviation Meteorologist] for the U.S. National Weather Service and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration at New Orleans International Airport. Every summer he serves as a Grader for the College Board’s A.P. Exam in the U.S. Government & Politics section.

From 2013 to 2018 he was a Teaching Fellow at the University of New Orleans where he taught courses in American Politics, LGBTQ Politics, and Methods of Political Research. At UNO he was a finalist for the UNO Advocate Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016 and 2017. He won the UNO Leadership Award for Service [for Pre-Law Advising] in 2018.

He arrived at Tulane as an Adjunct Professor (2015-2018), was promoted to full-time Visiting Professor (2018-2020), and promoted again to Professor of Practice in American Politics (2020+).

He won the Tulane Student Government’s Award for Student Advising and Mentoring in 2019. He won the Tulane Mortar Board Society’s award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021. He won the Tulane School of Liberal Arts’ April Brayfield Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2022. He was also selected as a William L. Duren Jr. Professor for Teaching Innovation for AY 2022-2023. He has been nominated by students, and chosen as a finalist by administration, for the prestigious Weiss Presidential Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching four times (2019, 2020, 2023, 2024).

He serves as a Tulane First-Year Faculty Fellow – a small but diverse group of faculty that engage with prospective (high school) students and first-semester freshman about academic life at Tulane and in New Orleans via special events with the Offices of Admission and First Year Experience.

He serves on the Tulane NTC Honor Board which administers hearings when students are accused of academic misconduct. He was the Faculty Member Honor Board Panelist of the Year for AY 2021-2022.

He serves as the Faculty Advisor for three Tulane organizations: Pi Sigma Alpha, Tulane’s Political Science Honor Society; the Tulane Mock Trial Club, a club that focus on courtroom / trial simulations and competitions; and Phi Alpha Delta, Tulane’s pre-law society, which allows him to mentor students interested in attending law school.

He also serves on the Department of Political Science Undergraduate Curriculum Committee; on the Tulane Committee on Academic Integrity; on the Tulane Faculty Senate, specifically on the Committee for Student Affairs; as well as in the Vice President for Student Affairs’ office as a member of the Campus Civic Engagement Coalition.