Among the goals highlighted in The University of Texas at Dallas strategic plan adopted shortly after President David E. Daniel assumed leadership is: Tell our story better. This fall, the University has taken a decisive step toward that goal by creating a venue where the stories are all about UT Dallas, all the time.  

UT Dallas Magazine’s first issue features Daniel’s vision for the institution as a globally competitive research powerhouse and describes how Texas legislation has propelled the University toward its Tier One goal.

“Here We Come,” the magazine’s cover story, details the ideas behind the Tier One push and the plans to turn that vision into reality. 

“It became clear to me that we could talk all we wanted to about becoming a Tier One institute, but we just did not have the funding to do it,” Daniel says. “If we wanted to compete with the big boys, we needed more income.”

A white paper that Daniel wrote in 2008, much of which has since become law, makes a pitch to the state of Texas for more Tier One institutions and puts UT Dallas in the competition for a pool of state funding to reach that goal.

UT Dallas Magazine will be published twice a year by the Office of Communications.

“While the magazine is aimed at anyone who wants to know more about the University, we hope it will serve to bring our alumni into greater awareness of how we’re working to enhance the value of their degrees and that it will encourage them to be in touch,” said Dr. Aaron Conley, vice president for development and alumni relations.

Publisher and Vice President for Communications Susan Rogers agreed, and added, “A good magazine is like a conversation. We hope the communication will be two-way, and that our readers will  let us know what they think.”

A host of other sections and articles in the first issue showcase academic achievements at the University:

  • “Faculty Forward” is a Q and A with Executive Vice President and Provost Hobson Wildenthal that investigates the University’s strategy to meet the needs of research, teaching, and a projected student enrollment of 25,000 in the next decade.
  • “On Campus” rounds up news on significant campus happenings, including the 15th anniversary of Kids University, a summer camp that lets children from local homeless shelters experience a college environment.
  • “174 and Counting,” an article on the 2010 class of McDermott Scholars, applauds the distinguished academic group for a decade of leadership and service.
  •  “Back to the Future” traces the roots of UT Dallas with a photographic timeline.
  • UT Dallas Magazine tells the stories of alumna Jennine Lunceford, who went on to Harvard Law after acing her way through UT Dallas with an infant daughter at her side, and Hannah Frank, a McDermott Scholar who joined the Peace Corps after graduation to combat Guinea worm disease in Ghana.

The magazine is available in full online.  To pick up a copy, or to learn how to subscribe to this biannual publication that explores and highlights the innovation, arts, research, alumni and contemporary issues of UT Dallas, call (972)883-4325, or email utdallasmagazine@utdallas.edu.