1990s
Dr. Robert S. Nelsen becomes assistant professor of arts and humanities.
Nearly 20 years after its founding, UTD’s first freshman class arrives on campus in August 1990. The class consists of about 100 students whose achievements set the academic standard for future classes.
Dr. Hobson Wildenthal arrives at UT Dallas as vice president of academic affairs and professor of physics.
Dr. Inga Musselman joins the chemistry department as assistant professor. UT Dallas appoints Musselman as provost and vice president for academic affairs in 2017.
In a ceremony held in early October, the Engineering and Computer Science Building and the Cecil and Ida Green Center for the Study of Science and Society are dedicated.
Kappa Sigma becomes UT Dallas’ first Greek chapter.
The University appoints Dr. Franklyn Jenifer as its third president. Jenifer had previously been president of Howard University and the chancellor of the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education. During Jenifer’s tenure, UT Dallas’ enrollment would increase more than 61 percent. The campus would undergo dramatic physical transformation with major new facilities, including the School of Management, the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Callier Center for Communication Disorders. Jenifer would be named president emeritus of UT Dallas in 2005.
UT Dallas pairs up with the city of Richardson to put on the first Sounds of Class, an annual family-friendly music festival.
The Galerstein Women’s Center, named for UTD’s first female dean, Dr. Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein, opens. It is renamed the Galerstein Gender Center in 2017.
Dr. Hasan Pirkul joins the School of Management as its new dean and Caruth Chair.
The chess team debuts at UT Dallas, launching a proud tradition of competitive excellence. Since its establishment, the UTD chess team has won the President’s Cup — known as the Final Four of College Chess — four times, won the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, and made history by playing Instituto Superior de Cultura Física in the first US-Cuba chess match in 50 years.
Dr. John F. Kain joins UT Dallas as director of the Green Center for the Study of Science & Society and the Texas Schools Project.
The Collegium V Honors Program begins to provide promising students with small class sizes, innovative teaching methods and a variety of extracurricular activities.
Dr. J. Michael Coleman is appointed dean of Undergraduate Education.
Dr. Suresh Sethi arrives at UT Dallas as a professor of management and Ashbel Smith Professor. He later becomes the Davidson Professor and Eugene McDermott Chair.
UTD Athletics joins the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference.
Dr. Richard Brettell becomes the new Margaret McDermott Distinguished Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies and professor of aesthetic studies in the School of Arts and Humanities.
After a competition to find a new mascot, UT Dallas decides on “Temoc,” which is “Comet” spelled backward. Alum Aaron Aryanpur designs Temoc, an orange-haired, blue-skinned Comet who frequents events across campus from freshmen orientation to chess matches.
UTD alum Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman establishes the Center for BrainHealth. The center is now home to labs with 60 fully funded research projects, including youth brain injury assessment, caregiver training, law enforcement mindfulness training and adolescent reasoning training.