State University 1954–1966, taught at Tulane in the early 1920s Kris Lane, historian and author, Tulane University and University of Minnesota faculty Robert K. Merton, sociologist, former head of the Sociology Department Claire Messud, novelist Alton Ochsner, founder of Ochsner Clinic, pioneer anti-smoking advocate William Rehnquist, U.S. Supreme Court (R) John Leonard Riddell, faculty 1836–1865; microscopist, chemist, botanist, geologist, physician, inventor of the first practical mono-objective binocular microscope (1851) Charles P. Roland, historian of the American Civil War and the American South, professor at Tulane 1952–1970 Tom Sancton, journalist, musician, Andrew W. Mellon Professor Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court (R) Andrew V. Schally, faculty 1962–2006, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1977), French Legion of Honor J. Lawrence Smith, chemist and inventor of the inverted microscope (1850) Raymond Taras, faculty, political scientist Royal D. Suttkus, faculty 1950–1990, founder of the largest ichthyology collection in the world Lewis Thomas, faculty 1948–1950, physician, researcher, and essayist Frank J. Tipler, physicist and author Jesmyn Ward, novelist; two-time winner of the National Book Award for Fiction (2011 and 2017) Tulane presidents References External links Famous Alumni List (PDF) at Alumni.tulane.edu Tulane University people