“Tulane University continues to build on its reputation of providing state-of-the-art educational opportunities for its students,” Taylor said. “Having nationally and internationally recognized faculty is vital in continuing that challenge. A Presidential Chair will allow for one more such person to share his or her knowledge with the student body.”

Taylor and the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation contributed $15 million for the creation of the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking in 2014 and funded the $1 million prize to the winning team of the Tulane University Nitrogen Reduction Grand Challenge in 2017.

Taylor is currently a co-chair of the Only the Audacious campaign. She is a past member of the President’s Council and has also served on the Tulane University Health and Sciences Center Board of Governors, the Tulane Medical Center Hospital/Clinic Board of Directors, the Center for Bioenvironmental Research Advisory Council, the Key to the Cure Committee, and the Newcomb Dance Advisory Board. In addition, she is the 2011 recipient of the Dermot McGlinchey Award.

“Phyllis Taylor’s support is absolutely central to Tulane’s goal of bringing the best minds from multiple fields together to solve the world’s most pressing challenges,” Tulane President Mike Fitts said. “Her funding of the Phyllis M. Taylor Presidential Chair Endowed Fund is the latest in her longstanding and unwavering commitment to making the world a better place.”

The purpose of the Presidential Chairs is to attract some of the world’s most renowned faculty members in areas such as biomedicine, coastal restoration, global health and fields not yet explored. These faculty members will embark on a pursuit of teaching and research that crosses multiple disciplines and transforms the world.

Fitts plans to establish many such professorships and has designated this as a campaign priority. These preeminent faculty will be hired as universitywide professors with joint appointments between schools to research and teach at the intersection of different subjects.

Taylor’s late husband, Patrick, was a member of the Tulane College Dean’s Advisory Council. Taylor succeeded her husband as chairman and chief executive officer of Taylor Energy Co. LLC, a privately owned independent energy company.

Board of Tulane member and alumna Phyllis M. Taylor committed $5 million toward an interdisciplinary Presidential Chair.