Submitted by Barri Bronston

Tulane University awarded degrees to more than 3,000 graduates on May 18, 2019, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Local student, Teddy McCullough of Lopez Island earned a Master of Business Administration from the A. B. Freeman School of Business. The ceremony’s keynote speaker was Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Cook also received an honorary degree along with New York Times Executive Editor and New Orleans native Dean Baquet, Tony and Emmy Awards-winning actress Blythe Danner and civil rights activist U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

McCullough and fellow class members were honored at the ceremony, which included all the pomp and circumstance of a traditional commencement but with a New Orleans twist, including herald trumpets and a second-line jazz procession. Music was provided by Dr. Michael White’s Original Liberty Jazz Band, and jazz singer Topsy Chapman performed the classic “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.”

Tulane University is one of the nation’s leading educational and research institutions. Founded in 1834 in New Orleans, Tulane has 10 schools and colleges offering degrees in architecture, business, law, liberal arts, medicine, public health and tropical medicine, the sciences and engineering, and social work.