The Storm After the Storm

Cowen with students (92% of undergrads returned to Tulane): "I wouldn't wish this on anybody. But we might as well take the opportunity to reinvent ourselves."

Not content merely to rebuild, Cowen is seizing on the emergency as an opportunity to remake Tulane as a truly elite school.

Some have questioned Cowen's approach and methodology, suggesting that there should have been more consultation with students and faculty. "Like any good leader, he made bold and decisive actions," says Lee Hoffman, a 1991 Tulane graduate, "but we don't have a battle-tested decision here. What we have is a decision that was prearrived at and then justified."

Cowen denies having any sort of master plan to alter the course of the university, but he was prepared to move aggressively in part because he had launched a financial analysis of every Tulane department in 2001, giving him data to rely upon once the hurricane hit. While no one would ever wish the horror of a Katrina on anyone, it gave Cowen the clout to move faster than any university administrator in memory. Other university presidents respect that decisiveness. "The first thing that popped into my mind was the quote from Plunkett, the Tammany Hall guy," says Madeleine Wing Adler, president of West Chester University of Pennsylvania. " 'I seen my opportunities and I took 'em.' "

Cowen says he's committed to seeing his plan through, and that he'll stick with Tulane at least until 2008, despite a growing chorus who want him to run for mayor of New Orleans. Sure, he's survived Katrina, but he has a long way to go in his quest to remake Tulane, and plenty of potential roadblocks, such as the community's struggles and, of course, the terrifying possibility that it could all happen again. "I say, 'Thank God that I was here at this moment,' " he says. "Not because I'm glad, but because if I could make a small difference, it will have been worth it."

Jennifer Reingold (jreingold@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer.

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