Celebrating our Alumni on Veterans Day
Two of the largest disasters of this century—Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill—forced the New Orleans region to confront the vital importance of emergency management in real time. Out of those challenges, Tulane developed one of the nation’s leading emergency management programs.
Enrolling in Tulane’s emergency management program was the right choice for Vegas Curry, who received his master’s degree in Homeland Security Studies in 2015 from the School of Professional Advancement. “There’s no place like New Orleans,” said Curry, who is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
A key experience in New Orleans during Curry’s military service influenced the trajectory of his life. Assigned to one of the U.S. Navy ships performing Hurricane Katrina relief, the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in 2005, Curry worked with his shipmates on the aircraft carrier to support military helicopters bringing items such as bottles of water and food to people in the devastated city. “If it wasn’t for that deployment,” Curry says, “I would never have considered emergency management as a career.”
Curry is now an Emergency Management Specialist at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Washington, DC area, working in the Office of Law Enforcement Engagement and Integration. He was recently tasked with creating a program to better train graduate schools to teach emergency management. “Tulane really taught me how to write thoughtfully about complex issues, and it's something I get to apply in my daily work,” says Curry.
“Tulane gave me a wider perspective and a better ability to understand the big picture -- the complex, multi-stakeholder environment of emergency management.”
As a Navy veteran, Curry felt drawn to Tulane in part due to Michael Wallace, director of Tulane’s Emergency and Security Studies, who is a fellow Navy veteran and retired military intelligence officer.
Tulane School of Professional Advancement honors the service of active duty military members and veterans. The school strives to create a welcoming and rewarding educational environment for all U.S. armed forces members. In coordination with Tulane’s Veterans Affairs office, the school provides advising, educational benefits, federal loans, and financial aid options specifically catered to veterans and military personnel.
On Veterans Day 2019, next Monday, November 11, Tulane honors the military service of so many Tulanians, both past and present.
