Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it was turned into a comprehensive public university as the University of Louisiana by the state legislature in 1847. The institution became private under the endowments of Paul Tulane and Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1884 and 1887. The Tulane University Law School and Tulane University Medical School are, respectively, the 12th oldest law school and 15th oldest medical school in the United States.

Paul Tulane was an American philanthropist and donor. Born in Cherry Valley, near Princeton, New Jersey, to a prominent French merchant family, Tulane made his fortune from a retail and dry goods company. Later, he became one of New Orleans' most prominent pro-confederate philanthropists and the namesake of Tulane University, formerly known as the Medical College of Louisiana.