New Jersey native Paul Tulane was only 16 when he visited New Orleans for the first time—and he was immediately smitten. The son of French immigrants, he relocated to New Orleans before he was out of his teens, opening Paul Tulane and Co., a dry goods business on which he would build his fortune. That fortune would, in turn, support the original green wave—Paul Tulane’s lifelong passion for philanthropy.

As he amassed his fortune, he grew to recognize that higher education was vital to the city’s future. In 1882 he donated land worth more than $1 million to improve higher education in New Orleans. His gift financed the University of Louisiana, which was subsequently named Tulane University in his honor.