In an article written for Dallas Innovates in December, I outlined “The Role of Universities in the Innovation Ecosystem.” What I didn’t discuss is just how important it is for UT Dallas to continue along its pattern of growth and excellence in order to become North Texas’ leading university. Today, the metrics show that UT Dallas is on the verge of gaining recognition as a nationally competitive and respected research-focused university, and it takes each of us to help UT Dallas achieve this goal.
An Innovation Ecosystem is a melting pot of people, culture and capabilities that evolves organically over a long period of time. North Texas has incubated its innovation ecosystem for more than 50 years — beginning with Texas Instruments, continuing with the Telecom Corridor’s heyday in the 1990s, through today with a bustling base of technology companies headquartered here, UT Dallas as its strong research university and an emerging entrepreneurial environment that houses hundreds of startups, accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces.
The University of Texas at Dallas is an innovative institution in the heart of North Texas on the path to recognition as a Tier One national research university. UT Dallas has grown since its founding in 1969 to include 134 degree programs, with cutting-edge curricula serving a variety of undergraduate and graduate student interests. In the fall of 2015, UT Dallas had total enrollments of roughly 24,000 students, more than double the enrollment in the year 2000. The University continues its original commitment to providing some of the state’s most-lauded science and engineering programs. It also has gained prominence for a breadth of educational paths, from criminology to biomedical engineering, to arts and technology.
UT Dallas is not just a research university, however; as it possesses nationally ranked programs in business with its Top 50 MBA program (Best Business Schools 2015, Bloomberg Businessweek) and has been celebrated as having one of the most innovative online MBA programs (ranked 9th by U.S. News). With multidisciplinary programs and cross-campus collaboration in its soul, UT Dallas encourages, equips and embraces innovation through multifaceted innovation and entrepreneurship programs run by the Naveen Jindal School of Management and by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where management, engineering, and arts students work together to solve problems and create new companies. Learn more about UT Dallas’ road to Tier One status.
