Biochemistry at 100
The Purple Anniversary
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (DBMB) is pleased to announce the organization of our Centennial Anniversary in 2025, to be highlighted by a Symposium in October of that year.
Celebrating 100 years is a momentous achievement in any department: It is all the more momentous when the celebration includes the fact that our first Department Chair was Dr. Wiley Denis, arguably the first woman chair at Tulane and one of the first at any medical school in the United States. We honor Dr. Denis, along with our other chairs, with a symposium program highlighting women's role in advancing medicine and science.
The day-long event will present internal and external speakers who contribute to the advancement of science through their research and published papers, culminating with an invited woman scientist at the forefront of her specialized area.
The color of the 100th anniversary is purple, which is also recognized as one of the colors of Mardi Gras. This is fitting as Dr. Denis was Queen of the Proteus Mardi Gras organization. Purple is also known as the color of royalty, which seems fitting for both Dr. Denis and our “Purple” anniversary. The history of the department’s past and present will be highlighted by the re-release of Dr. William Baricos’ book, Biochemistry at Tulane Medical School: 1834-2010, with a new chapter bringing readers up to our 100th year as an independent department.
As we go through 2024, our planning and progress on the event will be forthcoming. We ask our graduates—medical school, graduate school, masters—to consider becoming involved, either from a financial point of view by donating to make this a memorable event or by participating as a homecoming of sorts to celebrate and reminisce over their time with the department, renamed as the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2012.
One exciting activity for the anniversary will be a competition from our masters, PhD/MD students, and postdocs to develop unique logo designs for T-shirts, sweaters, and caps for celebrating the DBMB 100th anniversary. This will be discussed in depth as we get into 2024.
We hope you will celebrate this milestone with us! Look forward to additional announcements and emails coming your way.
Let’s make this Purple anniversary a truly royal one.
