Scott Nolan

Scott N. Nolan is a Senior Professor of Practice in the Dept. of Political Science with affiliate appointment in the Dept. of Gender & Sexuality Studies.

His courses focus on courts, law, public policy, healthcare, identity-based politics like race gender and sexuality, as well as statistical methods of research.

He earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of New Orleans (now “Louisiana State University at New Orleans”) in 2007, his M.A. in 2013, and his Ph.D. in 2019.

At Tulane he has won the Tulane Student Government’s Award for Excellence in Student Advising and Mentoring in 2019; the Tulane Mortar Board Society’s award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021; the Tulane School of Liberal Arts’ April Brayfield Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2022; the William Duren Professor Award for Teaching Innovation in 2023; and has been a finalist for the Weiss Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching five times (2019, ‘20, ‘23, ‘24, ‘25).

He won the Faculty Member of the Year Award at the Tulane Crest Awards in 2025.

He serves on the Tulane NTC Honor Board which administers hearings when students are accused of academic misconduct. He won Honor Board Faculty Panelist of the Year in 2022. He also serves on the Tulane NTC Honor Board Appeals Committee. He was also appointed by the NTC Dean as Faculty Chair of the Honor Board for 2025-2029.

He serves as the Faculty Advisor for three Tulane student 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 has served on the Department of Political Science Undergraduate Curriculum Committee; the Tulane NTC Committee on Academic Integrity overseeing the Academic Code of Conduct; the Tulane University Senate as Senator-at-Large and the Senate’s Committee for Student Affairs; the NTC Working Group for Students Seeking Graduate Education; and in the Vice President for Student Affairs’ office as a member of the Campus Civic Engagement Coalition.

He serves as a Faculty Principal in the Tulane Tenenbaum Scholars Program, the Tulane College Scholars Program, and the Tulane College Track Program.

Professor Nolan’s “Path to Law School” annual lecture series is well known across campus for helping hundreds of Tulane students gain acceptance and financial aid at more than 70 top American law schools.