Paul Tulane (May 10, 1801 – March 27, 1887), was an American philanthropist, born near Princeton, New Jersey, the son of Louis Tulane, a French immigrant, and Maria Tulane. He was educated in private schools, including Somerville Academy of New Jersey, until he was fifteen years of age. He clerked briefly in a store in Princeton and thereafter spent three years touring the southern United States with a well-educated male cousin, who was a member of the bar in France. It was from this tour that Tulane developed a keen interest in New Orleans.