Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), today announced that Scott S. Cowen, President of Tulane University in New Orleans, has been elected to the Barnes & Noble Board of Directors. Dr. Cowen is the 14th President of Tulane University. He also holds joint appointments as the Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts.

Tulane University President Scott Cowen named to Barnes & Noble Board of Directors. (Photo: Business ...

Tulane University President Scott Cowen named to Barnes & Noble Board of Directors. (Photo: Business Wire)

“We could not be more pleased to welcome President Cowen to our board,” said Leonard Riggio, Chairman of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “He brings a broad range of experience to the board on the educational front as well as substantial experience having served on both public and private company boards.”

President Cowen joined Tulane in 1998 and since that time has more than quadrupled its undergraduate applications while experiencing all-time highs in student quality. In addition, Tulane has more than doubled the level of total private giving to the university and received a record level of research awards. The university has implemented a number of innovative academic and research program initiatives and significantly increased its community outreach. As a result of Tulane’s growth, the university, under Dr. Cowen’s leadership, has invested approximately $700 million in new and renovated facilities in the last eight years.

President Cowen’s areas of scholarship and teaching focus on strategic financial management systems, corporate governance and leadership. He has consulted with dozens of companies, from startups to Fortune 100 companies and is currently a board member of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. and Forest City Enterprises.

President Cowen received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut. He received his masters and doctoral degrees, respectively, from The George Washington University in the fields of finance and management.

President Cowen and his wife, Marjorie, have four children and four grandchildren.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 663 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store® (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 696 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK®, NOOK Store®, NOOK Video™, and NOOK Video Apps™ are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.

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About NOOK Media LLC

NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store® of more than 3 million (US) and 2.5 million (UK) digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps™ and NOOK Video Apps™, available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom at leading retailers; NOOK content can be purchased at www.nook.co.uk.

For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN or www.twitter.com/nook_UK and www.facebook.com/nook or www.facebook.com/nookGB.