September 23, 2026 from 6:00-7:30 PM: Neel Dewan Gupta
Dr. Neel Dewan Gupta, MD, MBA, a New Orleans native and Tulane College valedictorian (2002), has dedicated his career to medicine, education and service. After earning his M.D. from Tulane School of Medicine in 2006, completing his Diagnostic Radiology Residency as Chief Resident and pursuing a Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship at UC San Diego, he returned to Tulane, where he now serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Radiology, Section Chief of Musculoskeletal Radiology and Director of the Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship.
A nationally recognized radiologist, educator, and mentor, Dr. Gupta has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, received multiple Owl Club Awards for excellence in resident education and recently completed both his MBA from Tulane and Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development. He remains deeply committed to advancing patient care, medical education and the Tulane community.
Dr. Jagan Dewan Gupta, MD, MBA, is a five-time Tulane graduate, having earned degrees or completed training through Tulane's undergraduate program, School of Medicine, Preliminary Internship, Radiology Residency, and most recently, the A.B. Freeman School of Business. A New Orleans native and graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School, he attended Tulane as a Distinguished Honors Scholar, graduating summa cum laude and salutatorian with a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology and a minor in Business. Following medical school, he completed his internship and radiology residency at Tulane before serving as Chief Fellow during his Neuroradiology Fellowship at Duke University.
Today, Dr. Gupta serves as Chief of Radiology at the New Orleans VA Hospital and Co-Director of the Neuroradiology Fellowship at LSU/VA, where he leads trainees while balancing clinical care, teaching, research and departmental leadership. He also serves as Secretary of the Radiology Society of Louisiana. Deeply connected to Tulane and New Orleans, Dr. Gupta is a familiar presence on campus and at Green Wave athletic events, and enjoys spending time with his three children, his twin brother Dr. Neel Gupta and their family, all of whom live near the university he proudly calls home.
September 24, 2026 from 6:00-7:30 PM: David Silvers (A&S '72, M *79)
Dr. David R. Silvers, MD, MS, FACG, FACP, AGAF, is a gastroenterologist and proud Tulane alumnus who earned his B.A. from Tulane University in 1972 and his M.D. from Tulane School of Medicine in 1979. After completing his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine, he returned to New Orleans, where he spent more than four decades caring for patients and developing expertise in inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer prevention, and screening. Although he retired from full-time practice in 2026, he continues to serve as a GI hospitalist and remains active in medical education.
A lifelong New Orleanian, Dr. Silvers enjoys mentoring students and young physicians while sharing insights from his distinguished career. Outside of medicine, he enjoys fishing, boating, travel, exercise, music and spending time with family and friends. He remains deeply connected to both Tulane and the city he proudly calls home.
October 13, 2026 from 6:30- 8:00 PM: Katherine Holcomb (NC '98, PHTM *99, M *04) and Mark Holcomb (E '94)
Dr. Kate and Mr. Mark Holcomb both attended Tulane Undergraduate programs. They met when they were both living in New Orleans after graduation.
Mark Holcomb grew up on a farm in rural Idaho. He graduated from Tulane in 1994 with a B.S. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane and received his J.D. from Loyola Law in 2004. He has worked as a Patent Examiner for the United States Patent & Trademark Office for the last 17 years.
Kate Zibilich Holcomb holds a BS, MsPh and MD from Tulane. She owns her own Dermatology Practice in New Orleans, Pure Dermatology, and is president-elect of the Tulane Medical Alumni Board.
Kate and Mark married in 2022 and have two sons, aged 15 and 17. They both love cooking, traveling, and watching movies with their two teenage sons.
October 21, 2026 from 7:00- 8:30 PM: Evan Nicoll (B '12, B *16, A *21)
Evan Nicoll is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 1834 Ventures, a New Orleans-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs and high-growth startups connected to the Tulane community. A three-time Tulane graduate, Evan earned his undergraduate degree from the A.B. Freeman School of Business before completing an MBA and a Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development. As an undergraduate, he competed as a pole vaulter on the Tulane Track & Field team, served as Undergraduate Student Government President, and member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He remains closely involved with the university today as an adjunct professor, including teaching The Entrepreneurial Landscape of New Orleans, a course for incoming first-year students that introduces them to the founders, companies, and organizations shaping the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
November 18, 2026 from 6:30- 8:00 PM: Katie Acuff (B.A. & J.D. *08, MBA *17) & Meredith Beers (B.A. '07, MPH & PhD *16)
A native of Charleston, SC, Katie Acuff began her fundraising career at The Catholic University of America (CUA). In 2010, Tulane University recruited Acuff to serve as the Senior Director of Development for its undergraduate college. In 2013, she established and directed Tulane's first principal gifts department. She was named an Associate Vice President for Advancement shortly before Tulane publicly launched its $1.8B comprehensive campaign. She raised over $100M and was instrumental in building numerous transformational programs at Tulane. In 2025, she became the President & CEO of the LSU Health Foundation, which manages a nearly $200M endowment and supports the charitable, scientific, and educational mission of the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
Katie earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Economics and Finance and a Juris Doctor from CUA, and a Master of Business Administration from Tulane. She is a Dame Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. In 2021, she co-founded JKT Group, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in nonprofit governance, management, fundraising, and event planning.
When she's not on the road for work or traveling for fun, Katie is at home with her three Golden Retrievers - Rascal, Shug, and Jack. You'll often find her volunteering with them as therapy dogs at local nursing homes, hospitals, and the airport through the Visiting Pet Program.
Meredith Beers graduated from Newcomb College in 2007 and the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 2011 with an MPH and 2016 with her PhD. She is now the Associate Director of Emergency Preparedness at Tulane in the Office of Emergency Preparedness & Response. When she isn't monitoring the Atlantic for potential tropical storm development, she volunteers with Katie's three therapy dogs at Manning Family Children's Hospital, Ochsner Hospital, and the Louis Armstrong International Airport.