Tulane University (officially The Tulane University of Louisiana or simply TU) is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as a public medical college in 1834, the school grew into a comprehensive university in 1847 and was eventually privatized under the endowments of Paul Tulane and Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1884. Tulane is a member of the Association of American Universities and the colloquial Southern Ivy League.

The university was founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 partly as a response to the fears of smallpox, yellow fever and cholera in America. The university became only the second medical school in the South, and the 15th in the United States at the time. In 1847, the state legislature established the school as the University of Louisiana, a public university, and the law department was added to the university. Subsequently, in 1851, the university established its first academic department. The first president chosen for the new university was Francis Lister Hawks, an Episcopalian priest and prominent citizen of New Orleans at the time.

Hoda Kotb ( /ˈhoʊdə ˈkɒtbiː/; Arabic: هدى قطب‎ Hudā Quṭb; born August 9, 1964) is an Egyptian-American television news anchor and TV host known as the co-host of the fourth hour of Today with Kathie Lee Gifford.

Kotb was born in Norman, Oklahoma, but grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia. Her parents are from Egypt. Kotb and her family lived in Egypt for a year, as well as Nigeria. In Arabic, the name "Hoda" means "guidance", and is very popular among Arab women. The surname "Kotb" means "the pole", as in North or South Pole, and is a common surname among Egyptians. The name is usually pronounced [ˈkutub]. For a period during her career, she spelled her surname Kotbe to aid in pronunciation; she has since reverted to using the original form, Kotb.

In 1986, she graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. She is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

She was the keynote speaker at her alma mater for the 2008 Virginia Tech graduation, where she played Metallica's "Enter Sandman" over her iPod.