Interactive Timeline
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Bell Labs invents the transistor.
Eugene McDermott, J. Erik Jonsson and Cecil Green observe promising young Texans leaving the state to pursue education while their company, Texas Instruments, imports out-of-state talent to work at their Dallas-based headquarters. Hoping to create better higher-education opportunities in North Texas, the trio establishes the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) — the foundation for what will become The University of Texas at Dallas.
The Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) appoints Lloyd V. Berkner as its first president. The Minnesota-raised engineer and physicist joined the Texas Instruments board in 1957. In 1966, he would go on to earn NASA’s highest civilian award: the Public Service Medal.
The Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) appoints Dr. Francis (Frank) Johnson to lead its atmospheric and space science division. Johnson is joined by William B. Hanson, Dr. Gilbert Plass, Dr. John Hoffman, Dr. Brian Tinsley and Dr. Walter Heikala.
The GRCSW appoints Dr. Anton Hales to lead the geophysics division. He is joined by Dr. Dean Presnall, Dr. Emile Pessagno Jr., Dr. James Carter, Dr. William Manton and Dr. Richard Mitterer.
On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Dallas Trade Mart. His prepared remarks included a salute to the newly formed GRCSW:
“It is not a coincidence that those communities possessing the best in research and graduate facilities — from MIT to Cal Tech — tend to attract the new and growing industries. I congratulate those of you here in Dallas who have recognized these basic facts through the creation of the unique and forward-looking Graduate Research Center.”
GRCSW faculty Ivor Robinson and Dr. Wolfgang Rindler organize the first Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics held in Dallas.
Through the generosity of Lena E. Callier, the Callier Hearing and Speech Center opens as a community-based nonprofit housed at Parkland Hospital.
Crews break ground for the Founders Building on a stretch of blackland prairie in Richardson, Texas.
After a year of construction, the Founders Building opens its doors to a crowd of onlookers. Co-founders J. Erik Jonsson, Eugene McDermott and Cecil Green attend, and Jonsson speaks to the crowd. In honor of this extraordinary moment, Comets celebrate Founders Day every Oct. 29.
The Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) establishes the biology division, led by Carsten Bresch and joined by Dr. Claud Stanley Rupert, Dr. John Jagger, Dimitri Lang, Dr. Hans Bremer, Harms Harris and Dr. Royston Clowes.
The Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) appoints Gifford K. Johnson as its second president. He serves until 1969, working closely with Dr. Harry Ransom of the UT System and founder J. Erik Jonsson to establish UT Dallas.
The Anson L. Clark Foundation establishes the Clark Summer Research Program, which provides first-year students with opportunities to join research groups and conduct hands-on experiments.
The 61st Texas Legislative Session passes HB 303, establishing a “state-supported institution of higher education to be known as The University of Texas at Dallas.” Gov. Preston Smith signs the bill, making UTD an official member of The University of Texas System effective September 1969.
In September, 62 graduate students enter the campus underneath a handmade sign that reads, “The University of Texas at Dallas,” the first time the name is used on campus.
The Anson L. Clark Memorial Lecture, the oldest endowed lecture series on campus, begins, attracting distinguished speakers like Dr. Carl Sagan in 1976.
In July, Dr. Bryce Jordan becomes the first president of UT Dallas. Jordan previously served as the president of The University of Texas at Austin. He would serve UT Dallas for the next decade, going on to become vice chancellor for academic affairs for The University of Texas System in 1981.
Lee H. Smith is appointed dean of faculties.
President Bryce Jordan and his assistant Donna Beth McCormick design UT Dallas’ first logo, with the letters “UTD” in a box with orange, white and green colors.
In an effort to continue the founders’ dream of a state-of-the-art educational facility, UTD releases a campus development plan to build upon its Richardson campus.
Dr. Polykarp Kusch becomes the first Nobel laureate on the UTD faculty. His work in accurately determining the magnetic moment of the electron as being greater than its theoretical value led to innovations in the field of quantum electrodynamics. Yet, despite his prowess in the laboratory, Kusch’s heart was with his students. As he once put it, “I describe myself as an adequate scientist, but I am a superb teacher.”
UT Dallas receives a generous donation of 275 acres of land from the Hoblitzelle Foundation and the Texas Research Foundation.
Dr. Allan Dean Sherry joins the faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry.
After a rigorous review, UT Dallas earns its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Dr. Roderick A. Heelis joins UTD as a research scientist in space science. He would later be appointed professor of physics in 1989.
UTD holds its inaugural graduation ceremony. The first graduates include Wang-Kong Lam in physics, Susan Seabury Mahlum in biology and Ronald Allan Hawkins in physics.
UT Dallas appoints Dr. Regina Mary Jane Kyle as executive dean for undergraduate studies.
Dr. Alexander Clark joins UT Dallas as vice president of academic affairs. During his time on campus, he recruits over 130 faculty members, conducting 550 interviews in 1975 alone.
Maureen B. Steiner is the first woman to receive a PhD from UT Dallas, earning her doctorate in geosciences. She becomes a pioneer in the studies of geomagnetism and paleomagnetism.
UT Dallas admits undergraduate juniors and seniors for the first time. At an affordable total cost of $195 per semester, students from neighboring Dallas County Community Colleges queue to enroll on Sept. 16, 1975. The first class numbers 3,333 students.
The Callier Center for Communication Disorders joins UT Dallas. The Callier Center provides innovative evaluations and treatments for people with speech, language and hearing disorders.
Dr. Rainer Schulte joins UT Dallas’ School of Arts and Humanities.
Dr. Lawrence J. Redlinger joins UT Dallas as associate professor of sociology.
The University appoints Dr. Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein as dean of the School of General Studies.
The Eugene McDermott Library, Cecil H. Green Hall, Erik Jonsson Academic Center, Hoblitzelle Hall and the University Theatre open.
Dr. Ramaswamy Chandrasekaran joins the faculty as associate professor in the School of Management.
Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez becomes assistant professor of arts and humanities.
The History of Aviation Archives, a world-class aeronautical archive and library, is added to UT Dallas’ Special Collections.
Margaret McDermott, wife of founder Eugene McDermott, donates the 10-foot-tall steel Jack sculpture, affectionately called the “Love Jack” by students. American modernist sculptor and Texas native Jim Love created the Love Jack. It has been displayed in several locations across campus over the years.
UT Dallas awards its first bachelor’s degrees at spring commencement.
James F. Reilly II graduates with a bachelor of science in geosciences. Reilly goes on to earn a master’s (1987) and PhD (1995) from UT Dallas. After his time on campus, Reilly would go on to explore the Hobbs Coast of West Antarctica, the deep ocean with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and U.S. Navy, and outer space as an astronaut for NASA. In 2018, Reilly is appointed director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The Alexander Clark Center and Visual Arts Building open. The Visual Arts Building, also known as the Art Barn, provides art students with gallery space to present their work. Both the Clark Center and the Visual Arts Building are torn down in the 2010s to make room for more development.
Dr. J. Michael Coleman joins the faculty as an assistant professor in the School of Human Development (School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences).
Co-editor of the Translation Review, former president of the American Literary Translators Association and a medievalist by training, Dr. Dennis M. Kratz becomes associate professor of arts and humanities. He later becomes dean of the School of Arts and Humanities.
Dr. Bert Moore joins UTD as program head of psychology. He goes on to lead the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences as dean for 26 years. During his work at UT Dallas, Moore would serve as a professor of clinical psychology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, a member of the American Psychological Association and serve on review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Anthony Champagne joins the University as associate professor in the School of Social Sciences.
Dr. Rainer Schulte and Dr. Dennis Kratz begin the Center for Translation Studies to promote discourse across foreign languages and cultures.
After starting construction in 1979, the Student Union opens its doors and soon wins an architecture award.
Dr. Edward (Ted) Harpham becomes assistant professor of the School of Social Sciences.
Dr. Alexander Clark is appointed interim president.
Dr. Robert H. Rutford becomes the University’s second president in May 1982, a position he occupies until 1994. A glacial geologist and expert in geomorphology and Antarctica, Rutford led a party into the Antarctic Ellsworth Mountains in the 1960s and served as director of the division of polar programs for the National Science Foundation from 1975 to 1977. His dedication to the UTD community would later be honored with his appointment as president emeritus in 2007.
Dr. Frank M. Bass becomes the UT System Eugene McDermott Professor of Management.
In honor of UT Dallas’ first on-staff Nobel laureate, Dr. Polykarp Kusch, the University endows the lecture series “Concerns of the Lively Mind,” which would later be renamed the “Polykarp Kusch Lecture Series” in 1985. Notable lectures include Dr. Rainer Schulte’s “Translation: A Model for Intercultural Communication” in 2010 and Dr. Hobson Wildenthal’s “The Lifecycle of a Science from Conception to Metamorphosis” in 2017.
The Morris Hite Center for Marketing Science opens its doors for students to learn the latest research related to new products and management.
Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth joins the UT Dallas faculty as an assistant professor in arts and humanities.
The University realizes its dream for an engineering school when the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Sciences opens its doors.
The youngest scientist to ever be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Brian Berry joins the School of Social Sciences.
Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman earns her PhD at UT Dallas. Thirteen years later, she establishes the University’s Center for BrainHealth.
Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor, translation expert, and professor of 19th- and 20th-century European literature and history, establishes the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies. UT Dallas is just one of two schools in the nation that offers a master’s or PhD in Holocaust studies.
The Texas Legislature passes HB 42, authorizing UT Dallas to enroll freshmen and sophomore students. Enrollment is limited to 2,000 entering freshmen with lower division enrollment limited to 5,000 students. This legislation marks the expansion of UTD into a full-scale university, from freshmen students all the way to PhD candidates.
The Administration Building opens. The building was originally called the Multipurpose Facility and housed engineering programs and other departments.
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.
Remodeling begins in McDermott Library, including the McDermott Suite — a space for people to host gatherings.
Margaret McDermott donates $32 million dollars to establish the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program, a highly competitive program which seeks to provide scholars with leadership, cultural and educational tools to enrich their academic experience. Because of McDermott’s generosity, all McDermott Scholars attend UT Dallas on a full scholarship with a stipend package.
After Margaret McDermott’s kind donation, the first class of McDermott Scholars arrives at UT Dallas ready to fulfill their leadership potential.
Dr. Ray Baughman becomes UT Dallas’ first Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry.
Dr. Andy Blanchard joins UT Dallas as a professor of electrical engineering and senior associate dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Led by Dr. Ray Baughman and Dr. Anvar Zakhidov, the Nanotech Institute is founded in 2001.
As a tangible reminder of their time at UT Dallas, students can purchase a class ring complete with UTD shield, a comet encircling a star, and the Texas flag. The University presents the rings after sealing them in a wooden box sourced from the original Founders Building and enclosed with equipment used in NASA missions. The ceremony includes dunking the rings in a reflection pool on the Margaret McDermott Mall.
UT Dallas joins other UT System schools in the Archer Fellowship program, a professional fellowship that gives students the opportunity to intern in Washington, D.C. Students from UT Dallas have worked everywhere from think tanks to the White House and Senate offices.
From the generous donation of UTD alum James Von Ehr MS’81, the James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology is established. Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid, winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2000, is the first to hold the chair.
UT Dallas’ women’s soccer team wins the American Southwest Conference championship for the first time.
A 152,000-square-foot addition to the Engineering and Computer Science North building opens in August. The new ECS South building includes additional equipment, classrooms and the Texas Instruments auditorium.
Oozeball — an annual mud volleyball tournament — debuted at homecoming in fall 2002.
The School of Human Development changes its name to the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Texas Instruments, the state of Texas, and the UT System announce Project Emmitt, a bold public-private partnership formed to build a chip fabrication plant in Richardson and infuse up to $300 million for expanding the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Dr. Russell A. Hulse, winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1993, joins UT Dallas as a visiting professor. He is appointed Regental Professor and associate vice president for strategic initiatives in 2004.
Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham joins UT Dallas as professor of computer science and director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute.
The McDermott Library acquires its one-millionth book: Flora Londinensis, a landmark 18th-century botanical set by William Curtis.
Dr. Larry D. Sall, director of libraries since 2000, is appointed dean of the McDermott Library.
The men’s soccer team wins its first American Southwest Conference tournament.
The UT Dallas alma mater, with music by Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez and lyrics by professional songwriters Bill Dunn and Neely Reynolds, debuts at spring commencement.
Dr. Brian Berry is appointed dean of the School of Social Sciences.
The men’s basketball team wins its first American Southwest Conference title.
Dr. David E. Daniel is appointed fourth president of UT Dallas. An engineer whose work was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Daniel worked at UT Austin and University of Illinois before arriving at UT Dallas. Under his leadership, UTD triples its research expenditures, allocates $600 million for building construction, adds 40 new degree programs and raises $210 million in private funds.
Eugene McDermott Scholar Sophie Rutenbar BA’06 becomes the first UT Dallas student to be awarded both a Truman Scholarship and Marshall Scholarship.
Eugene McDermott Scholar Kassandra McLean earns the first Goldwater Scholarship awarded to a current UTD student.
UT Dallas’ first Ceremonial Mace is presented to President David Daniel. The mace is made of wood from the 600-year-old Treaty Oak Tree in Austin and bears a metal University Seal that was carried into space.
The School of Social Sciences is renamed the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.
At UT Dallas’ inaugural Investiture Ceremony, President David E. Daniel presents “Creating the Future” — his strategic plan for UT Dallas that outlines how the University will become one of the nation’s best public research universities and one of the great universities of the world.
The Natural Science and Engineering Research Laboratory opens. Its colorful anodized shingles earn it the nickname “The Mermaid Building.”
The Francis and Mildred Goad Building, the new home for the Center for BrainHealth, opens.
Dr. Denise C. Park joins UT Dallas as professor of Brain and Behavioral Science and the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair in Clinical Brain Science.
McDermott Scholar Rachel Markowitz becomes UT Dallas’ first Fulbright Scholar.
The UT Dallas volleyball team wins its first American Southwest Conference championship.
Director of the NanoTech Institute and the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry, Dr. Ray Baughman is elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
UT Dallas partners with the Confucius Institute, a global network of partnerships that promotes a greater understanding of China’s languages and civilization.
Improvements across campus begin, including renovation of the Founders Building and construction of the school’s first residence hall and the Science Learning Center.
The first phase of the Campus Landscape Enhancement Project begins. The project includes planting 6,000 trees, constructing a small amphitheater and renovating roads.
Spirit Rock, an ever-changing public art piece consisting of three large boulders, is installed for students to paint messages and artwork.
Artist Randy Johnson reveals his mural, depicting various scenes at UT Dallas, outside the Pub.
UTD premieres its fight song, written to the tune of “Tiger Rag,” a famous jazz ballad produced in 1917 by the New Orleans group Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
The School of General Studies is renamed the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, offering programs in health care, American studies and exercise studies.
Dr. Mark W. Spong is appointed dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
The first residence hall (South) and Dining Hall open for students, followed by four more residence halls in the following five years. The group of residence halls is known as University Commons.
Gov. Rick Perry visits UT Dallas to sign House Bill 51. The legislation offers funding to reward research productivity and match private funding. It also establishes goals based on national standards that encourage UT Dallas and other universities throughout the state to expand research and improve academic excellence.
On Sept. 1, 2009, UT Dallas receives 16 individual donations — seven of which are greater than $1 million.
Presidents David E. Daniel, Franklyn Jenifer and Robert H. Rutford gather on a panel to reflect on the University’s 40-year trajectory.
Dr. Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres is appointed new dean of Undergraduate Education following Dr. J. Michael Coleman’s retirement.
The Science Learning Center (SLC) opens and gives students access to a number of instructional and interdisciplinary science labs. Its tiled exterior is inspired by both the atomic emission spectra of gases and the look of human DNA once it is separated in gel electrophoresis.
UTD’s first LEED Platinum facility, the Student Services Building, opens for students with a Career Center, Financial Aid Office and multicultural and gender centers.
Dr. Denise C. Park establishes the Center for Vital Longevity, a center dedicated to researching and understanding the aging brain, memory, cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
After just eight months of construction, the Visitor Center and University Bookstore opens its doors to visitors and students.
Phi Kappa Phi, a highly selective honor society, opens a chapter at UT Dallas.
Holocaust Studies gains a new home in the Jonsson Academic Center and is renamed the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies in honor of Edward M. Ackerman’s generous support of the center.
Dr. Alex R. Piquero joins UT Dallas as Ashbel Smith Professor of criminology.
Alumni Naveen Jindal MBA’92, Charles “Chuck” Davidson MS’80 and Nancy Gundy Davidson BS’80 collectively donate a joint gift of $30 million. This momentous gift is commemorated in the naming of the Naveen Jindal School of Management and the Davidson Management Honors Program.
Dr. Bruce M. Novak joins UT Dallas as dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
Dr. James Coleman, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, joins UT Dallas as professor and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and as the Erik Jonsson Distinguished Chair.
UT Dallas begins an annual tradition for its faculty, the Investiture Ceremony. The ceremony — attended by colleagues, family, and students — is a time to celebrate and recognize UTD’s extraordinary faculty.
Realize the Vision: The Campaign for Tier One & Beyond begins its $200-million, five-year campaign to make UT Dallas into a nationally competitive research institution.
The Veteran Services Center, now the Military and Veteran Center, opens to support veterans as they transition to life as students.
The Comets win their first championship title in an upset against Louisiana College, advancing to their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams win their first titles in the American Southwest Conference.
The Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics returns to UT Dallas for its 27th conference. Dr. Wolfgang Rindler, who was present for the inaugural symposium, and Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Bousaki host the conference. While it is held in locations around the world, the conference retains “Texas” in its name to honor the first gathering at UT Dallas.
UTeach Dallas raises $2 million to help prepare undergraduate students to be secondary science and math teachers.
In honor of one of Texas’ most generous philanthropists, the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building is formally dedicated. An inaugural concert features the original composition De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) by Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez.
The second phase of the University’s Campus Landscape Enhancement Project breaks ground.
UTDesign gets its own special laboratory space in the Synergy Park North building.
Edith O’Donnell, longtime visionary and patron of the arts and education, makes a contribution of $17 million to create the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History.
With a $14-million donation from Margaret McDermott, the Eugene McDermott Graduate Fellows Program begins at UT Dallas.
In a whirlwind of construction, Residence Hall West, Dining Hall West and Recreation Center West open to students.
UT Dallas awards a PhD to its youngest recipient, Austin Howard, who completed his coursework in physics at age 22.
Crowds pack the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building lecture hall for the first Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communications (ATEC) Distinguished Lecture — a talk by Robert Edsel, author of The Monuments Men. Subsequent events include a talk from former astronaut Mae Jemison; internet pioneer Vinton G. Cerf; and UTD alum and Microsoft executive Christian Belady MA’90.
Eugene McDermott Scholar Bhaskaran Nair BS’13 becomes the first UT Dallas student to receive the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Hundreds of donors, faculty, staff and students gather to celebrate the finale of Realize the Vision: The Campaign for Tier One and Beyond. The University’s first comprehensive campaign surpassed its goal to raise more than $263 million.
The UT System’s Board of Regents approves the creation of an Honors College.
The UT System Board of Regents approves the merger of two successful Arts and Technology programs into a single school — the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication.
Dr. Hobson Wildenthal is appointed president ad interim.
Dr. Aziz Sancar, who earned his PhD in molecular and cell biology from UT Dallas in 1977, becomes the first UTD alum to win a Nobel Prize.
UTDesign Studio opens the Innovation Lab, a collaboration between UT Dallas and Texas Instruments.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education classifies UT Dallas as an R1 Institution — a classification reserved for doctoral institutions with the highest research activity.
Dr. Anne Balsamo is appointed the first dean of the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication.
Dr. Richard C. Benson is appointed the fifth president of UT Dallas. Since then, UT Dallas has qualified for funding from the National Research University Fund, a third engineering building and alumni center have opened, and President Benson outlined goals in a new strategic plan.
On the third annual Founders Day, the Texas Instruments Plaza is dedicated.
The Founders Building is designated a Milestones in Microbiology site by the American Society of Microbiology.
At 220,000 square feet, the Bioengineering and Sciences Building opens its doors. The building, which houses collaborative labs for bioengineering and neurosciences, is UT Dallas’ largest academic building.
UT Dallas’ Callier Center for Communication Disorders opens its $22-million facility.
Northside, a $54-million mixed-use development, is built by co-developers Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions and Wynne/Jackson on UT Dallas land. The 370,000-square-foot property includes townhomes and apartments.
The women’s cross country team wins the American Southwest Conference championship for the first time.
The 68,000-square-foot Student Services Building Addition opens. It has a 530-seat auditorium, food and retail locations, and a gaming wall.
Margaret McDermott creates an endowment of $10 million for undergraduate research and, per her request, the Honors College is renamed the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College.
Peter Walker, the renowned landscape architect who designed the UT Dallas Landscape Enhancement Project, is awarded the first Richard Brettell Prize in the Arts — an award established with a gift from Margaret McDermott to recognize the essential role of arts, music, literature, performance and design.
Canyon Creek Heights, a new apartment complex on the southwest corner of campus, opens to students.
In the Young University Rankings report from Times Higher Education, UT Dallas ranks No. 1 in schools founded less than 50 years ago.
Soccer player Sam Konstanty and volleyball player Michelle Toro become the first Comets in school history to earn the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
The Center for BrainHealth opens its new home for the Brain Performance Institute.
The Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center opens. It is named for Nancy Gundy Davidson BS’80 and Charles “Chuck” Davidson MS’80, in acknowledgment of their $15-million gift that made its construction possible.
UT Dallas achieves the critical benchmark criteria required to qualify for funding from the National Research University Fund, an exclusive source of research support available to the state’s emerging research universities.
The UT Dallas baseball team wins its first American Southwest Conference title.
On the ground where the Alexander Clark Center once stood, the new Engineering and Computer Science West building opens. The building stands four stories high with 200,000 square feet of labs, classrooms and office space.
UT Dallas premieres its on-campus wind tunnel, perfect for automobile and subsonic testing and with the capability of reaching 115 mph.
UT Dallas men’s cross country team captured the American Southwest Conference championship for the first time in team history.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCC) reaffirms UT Dallas’ accreditation.
North Texas real estate icon Herb Weitzman and his wife, Donna, establish the Herbert D. Weitzman Institute for Real Estate at the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
UT Dallas becomes one of the few universities to add an esports program to its athletics department.
Dr. Juan González, professor of molecular and cell biology in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, is named dean of Graduate Education.
The Trammell and Margaret Crow family donates the entire collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art, together with $23 million of support funding, to create the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas.
President Richard C. Benson unveils a new Strategic Plan, a blueprint for UT Dallas’ success over the next five years.
Dr. Steven L. Small, professor of neurology at the University of California, Irvine and director and chief scientific officer of the Medical Innovation Institute at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, becomes dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Rafael Martín accepts a new role as vice president and chief of staff for the University. Martín joined UT Dallas in 2003 as the founding manager of the Office of Technology Transfer. He became associate vice president for research in 2006. He also served as interim vice president for research.
Dr. Stephanie G. Adams, professor of engineering management and systems engineering at Old Dominion University and dean of its Frank Batten College of Engineering & Technology, becomes the fifth dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team earned the first athletics national championship for UT Dallas. The esports team traveled to Massachusetts to compete in the Collegiate Starleague Smash Ultimate National Championships on Aug. 23-25 at Shine 2019, one of the largest events in the world for Smash tournaments.
The University of Texas at Dallas establishes the Center for Asian Studies, expanding its commitment to programs that previously were components of the University’s earlier initiatives, the Confucius Institute and the Asia Center. It operates in tandem with the University’s Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art.
Dr. David Hyndman, a geoscientist with 25 years of experience as a researcher, educator and academic administrator, has been named dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at The University of Texas at Dallas.
UT Southwestern Medical Center opens a new community vaccine site on The University of Texas at Dallas campus. The site provides vaccinations for UTSW patients and community members who are part of prioritized groups.
The University of Texas at Dallas women’s golf team won its first American Southwest Conference championship.
Dr. Yvette E. Pearson joined UT Dallas in fall 2021 after working in various roles to increase opportunities in engineering for women, minorities, students from low-income backgrounds and people with disabilities.
The University of Texas at Dallas returned to pre-pandemic operations when the fall semester began Aug. 23.
Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, distinguished scholar in residence, professor of physics, and long-serving executive vice president and provost, died Sept. 4 after a sudden, brief illness.
esperanza spalding, the recipient of The University of Texas at Dallas’ 2021 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts, shared her philosophies about music and life as she met with students, administrators and the public on campus.
UT System and UT Dallas leaders joined elected officials and members of the campus community to share details of the $300 million Promise Plus program, which will greatly expand tuition assistance programs at UTD and six other UT System institutions.
The University of Texas at Dallas breaks ground on the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, a new cultural district located on approximately 12 acres at the southeastern edge of the campus.
The University of Texas of Dallas holds the inaugural All-University Commencement, a sparkling new Comet tradition that celebrated recent graduates’ academic journeys.
The University of Texas at Dallas announces that the School of Arts and Humanities (A&H) and the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC) will combine to form one larger school focused broadly on the arts and humanities and will be known as the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology (AHT).
Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies, is appointed the inaugural dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Texas at Dallas hosts an open house at its newest research and startup space in the Headquarters for the Richardson Innovation Quarter.
Dr. Donal Skinner, who led the honors programs at Ohio University and the University of Wyoming, joins The University of Texas at Dallas as dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College.
The gift creates new opportunities, while also strengthening scholarships, research and programming for the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
University of Texas at Dallas alumnus Richard Kurjan MA’82 recently made a significant gift to name the Center for Translation Studies in honor of its founder, Dr. Rainer Schulte, Founders Professor of arts and humanities.
Domee Shi, an Academy Award-winning director and artist, has been selected to receive the 2023 Richard Brettell Award in the Arts at The University of Texas at Dallas.
The University of Texas at Dallas has initiated its transition to Division II of the NCAA, accepting an invitation to join the Lone Star Conference (LSC) as a full member.
As announced by the Department of Defense on Sept. 18, The University of Texas at Dallas will receive $30 million over three years from the DOD to develop and commercialize new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, enhance the domestic availability of critical raw materials, and train high-quality workers for jobs in an expanding battery energy storage workforce.
The $120 million, five-story, 150,000-square-foot Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building supports dozens of faculty from UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
A new Student Success Center/Student Union will be built where the Cecil and Ida Green Center is located, and the former Pub dining area in the current Student Union will be renovated and become an esports center.
The Department of Geosciences is now the Department of Sustainable Earth Systems Sciences to reflect changes in the field since the department was established more than 50 years ago.
The University of Texas at Dallas will make a record 19th appearance in the President’s Cup — known as the Final Four of College Chess — and will have home advantage as the event returns to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex for the first time in 15 years.
A gray morning over The University of Texas at Dallas campus gave way to just enough breaks in the clouds around midday for throngs of Comets to experience the total eclipse of the sun that captivated millions of onlookers across North America on April 8.
The University of Texas at Dallas has been accepted as an NCAA Division II provisional member. They will start an expedited, two-year transition process with the goal of being a full Division II member on Sept. 1, 2026.
The University of Texas at Dallas accelerated its international student recruiting efforts by establishing a footprint in Africa’s most populous nation. The UT Dallas Africa office opened in Lagos, Nigeria, with a ceremony held July 18.
Dr. Adam J. Woods, a leader in neuromodulation who is focused on finding noninvasive methods for remediating age-related decline in thinking and memory, is the new dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Annette Addo-Yobo BS’20 has been on a whirlwind tour since becoming the first immigrant-born winner of Miss Texas. Her next big stop? The Miss America pageant in January.
After eight years of steady and inspired leadership, Dr. Richard C. Benson announced plans to step down from his position as the fifth president of The University of Texas at Dallas.
University of Texas at Dallas leaders and friends celebrated the opening of the Brettell Reading Room at the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum on Sept. 4. The reading room is the first space to be completed in Phase 1 of the University’s new cultural district.
University leaders, donors and supporters gathered Sept. 24 to celebrate the opening of the first phase of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, a new 12-acre cultural gateway to The University of Texas at Dallas campus that when complete will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, and a grand plaza.