The School of Science and Engineering has received a $2 million gift to establish and endow the Charlotte Beyer Hubbell Chair in River-Coastal Science and Engineering. Hubbell has also contributed $1 million to create the River-Coastal Science and Engineering Excellence Fund.

The Charlotte Beyer Hubbell Chair will fund salary and other expenses directly associated with the chair-holder’s academic work and research.

The River-Coastal Science and Engineering Excellence Fund will support equipment, student-linked conference attendance and travel for research, as well as the expansion of a network of Lower Mississippi River Experimental Stations, which will collect data parameters from the Mississippi River and its main tributaries that are key to ecosystem health and sustainability.

In honor of Hubbell’s generosity in supporting the excellence fund and community involvement initiatives, Tulane will create the annual Charlotte Beyer Hubbell Forum on the State of River-Coastal Issues. The fund will highlight Tulane faculty through a public lecture on Tulane’s campus about river-coastal issues.

“I want to do something for Tulane/Newcomb in appreciation of the excellent education I received there,” said Hubbell (NC ’71). “Working together with President Fitts and Kimberly Foster, the dean of the School of Science and Engineering, I was able to narrow my focus on the concerns I have for the future of New Orleans, namely coastal erosion, rising sea levels, a changing climate, floods and other severe weather impacts. I hope the department can communicate the urgency of these issues to decision-makers and engage the local community to participate in possible solutions.”

Hubbell is currently a member of the Environmental Law and Policy Center’s advisory board in Chicago and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts. She served on the board of the Iowa Nature Conservancy from 1994-98 and was one of the founders of the Iowa Environmental Council.