The University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas International Student Insurance

The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), located in Richardson, Texas, was founded in 1961 as the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest. It joined the University of Texas System and adopted its current name in 1969. It was envisioned as the “MIT of the South” to provide quality engineering and physical science education in the region, and it originally admitted only graduate students. The first bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1976. Today, it offers more than 140 academic degrees across its eight schools: the School of Arts & Humanities; the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication; the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences; the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences; the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science; the School of Interdisciplinary Studies; the Naveen Jindal School of Management; and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

It enrolls about 30,000 students and counting each year. The school colors are flame orange and evergreen, and its athletic nickname is the comets.

Research Activity

UTD has been noted for its explosive growth in research output. Just 47 years after its founding, it was classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a “Highest Research Activity Institution.” The William B. Hanson Center for Space Studies focuses on space plasma physics. It conducts a NASA-sponsored mission to research equatorial plasma bubbles that can interrupt radio signals. Other research institutes focus on cybersecurity, nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, brain health, communication disorders, and bioengineering. 

Student Life

As far as student life, UTD boasts an internationally ranked chess team; a nationally ranked debate team; a nationally ranked eSports team; and three pre-law competition teams in moot court, mock trial, and mediation. Noteworthy campus traditions include homecoming, the annual Oozeball Tournament, Splatterdance, Springapalooza, and the tradition of rubbing the head of a statue of Cecil Green (one of the university’s founders) for good luck on the way to an exam.

Notable Alumni

Notable University of Texas at Dallas faculty, alumni, and attendees include Antarctic explorer Robert H. Rutford; NASA astronaut James F. Reilly II; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry James R. Von Ehr II; writer and folklorist Alan Govenar; filmmaker Mike Judge; news anchor John McCaa; and India Parliament representative Naveen Jindal.