Alumni investments are helping transform Newcomb Hall into a renewed home for the School of Liberal Arts.
For Tulane alumna, parent, and marketing executive Alison Friedman Brod (NC ’91), Newcomb Hall represents more than a building. It represents the place where her career began.
As founder and CEO of Alison Brod Marketing + Communications, one of the country’s most influential public relations and brand marketing firms, Brod has built a career at the forefront of communications and storytelling. Now, with a $1 million gift to the School of Liberal Arts, she is helping ensure today’s students have access to the same spirit of inspiration and innovation that shaped her own Tulane experience.
Her gift establishes the Alison Brod Media and Communication Wing on the newly renovated fourth floor of Newcomb Hall, which brings together the Department of Communication and the Digital Media Practices Program in a collaborative environment designed to mirror today’s professional media landscape. This wing, on the north side of the floor, features media production studios, a digital editing lab, flexible collaboration spaces, a recording studio and technology that supports emerging forms of storytelling and scholarship. From film editing to podcast creation, from digital journalism to multimedia research, the wing’s resources will mirror professional standards and prepare students to engage meaningfully with the rapidly evolving landscape of communication and media.
“This gift is my way of honoring that experience and ensuring future generations have access to the most forward-thinking spaces for creativity, communication, and collaboration,” Brod said. “I’m thrilled to support the renovation of Newcomb Hall and to help create a wing that will inspire students for decades to come.”
Brod’s gift is one of several major investments preparing Newcomb Hall for its next chapter as the home of the School of Liberal Arts.
Reimagining the First Floor
Support from Doris Seelig Davis (NC ’48), Robert (A&S ’92) and Lynne Wolfberg, Barry (A&S ’91) and Tomm Miller and family, John Isakson (A&S ’92), and the Argenti family helps us transform the first floor of Newcomb Hall around a vision for the future of Liberal Arts education. The first floor features state-of-the-art gathering spaces, collaborative rooms and meeting spaces, and a fully reimagined Dean’s Office with flexible spaces for the School’s many interdisciplinary programs. Together, these gifts will restore the building’s role as a flagship of the School of Liberal Arts, welcoming students, faculty, alumni, and visitors into a shared space for conversation, scholarship, and community.
Creating the Media Hub of the Fourth Floor
Additional support from Wayne Teetsel (A&S ’87) and Louis Jung (A&S ’68) complements Brod’s vision for the fourth floor. New production studios, editing suites, and flexible teaching spaces will bring together communication, journalism, film, and digital media in an environment designed for collaboration and creative practice.
“Newcomb Hall has always been at the center of liberal arts education at Tulane,” said Dean Brian T. Edwards. “Thanks to the generosity of these alumni and families, it will once again be a place where students and faculty come together to learn, create, and discover.”
Together, these gifts are updating one of Tulane’s most iconic buildings while realizing a renewed vision for Newcomb Hall — one that brings back the openness of James Gamble Rogers’ original design, breaks down barriers between disciplines, and creates state-of-the-art spaces where students and faculty can learn, discover, and connect for decades to come.