Two programs with ties to sport received generous gifts this year. The innovative and interdisciplinary Center for Sport received a $5.5 million gift from the Douglas J. Hertz Family Foundation, Inc., and the newly created Tulane University Center for Brain Health, also a program of the Center for Sport, received a $12.5 million gift from The Avalon Fund.

The Tulane Center for Sport is devoted to the study, research and support of all areas where sport engages society, including health, legal issues, labor agreements, sports marketing and finance, media, data analytics and venue architecture. The Center for Brain Health, which will work in conjunction with the School of Medicine, will specialize in the treatment of traumatic brain injury and post-
traumatic stress disorder in U.S. military veterans.

The Hertz Family Foundation fund for the Center for Sport will support initiatives for current faculty members and leadership, attract prominent faculty members, visiting professors and adjunct instructors to the center while continuing to support and expand its existing nationally recognized programs.

“This generous gift continues the Hertz family tradition of providing transformative support to the academic mission of Tulane,” said President Michael Fitts. “This gift will strengthen the Center for Sport’s role as a national leader in the study of athletic competition and its far-reaching impact on so many aspects of the human condition.”

“Our family is thrilled to support the vision of interdisciplinary studies on a subject that has become so important in the daily lives of many Americans,” said Doug Hertz (A&S ’74, B ’76), the immediate past chair of the Board of Tulane. 

Hertz and his family are the catalysts behind the gift. Hertz, along with his wife, Lila Loewenthal Hertz (NC ’76), daughter Amy Hertz Agami (NC ’02), son Michael J. Hertz (B ’05) and sister Patricia Jill Hertz Reid (B ’79) all graduated from Tulane.

“Through the support of the Hertz family, we will be able to enhance our interdisciplinary study, research, teaching and community engagement of all levels of the sports industry,” said Gabe Feldman, the Sher Garner Professor of Sports Law, the Paul and Abram B. Barron Professor of Law, and the director of the Tulane Sports Law Program. 

Feldman and Dr. Greg Stewart, the chief of the Section of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and W. Kennon McWilliams Professor in Sports Medicine, are co-founders and co-directors of the Tulane Center for Sport.

Stewart, who is also the director of Tulane’s Professional Athlete Care Team, which has cared for retired professional athletes through partnerships with the NFL Player Care Foundation and The Trust (Powered by the NFLPA), will oversee the clinic at the Center for Brain Health. 

“I fully expect that Dr. Stewart and his team will make unique contributions to the care of veterans in the New Orleans area and well beyond,” said Dr. James Kelly, executive director for the Marcus Institute for Brain Health, on behalf of the Avalon Fund.

“We are very proud and excited about the launch of the Tulane University Center for Brain Health. Our focus on veterans — caring for former members of our armed forces — is an honor beyond words,” Stewart said.