Introduction

The University of Texas at Dallas has a vision: to become one of the nation's best public research universities and one of the great universities of the world. The Dallas - Fort Worth Region urgently needs this.

Without the engine of discovery, invention, creativity, and entrepreneurship that a truly great university provides, our economic vitality as a region is at a risk. Threats posed by countries such as China and India, which are making unprecedented investments in their research universities, make our task all the more urgent.

This document lays out the University's strategies and action plans for the next 10 years to achieve this goal. This plan describes our dreams, details our action plan, lays out space needs, outlines funding needs, and provides a business model and measures of progress. It is, literally, our roadmap to the future.

We invite you to join us in creating the future of an important institution, one that will assure the health and vitality of our region's citizens and children for generations to come.

David E. Daniel
President

Where We're Going

There are many good universities, but few great ones. UT Dallas is destined to be one of the great ones. We will be one of the most important institutions in Texas and a cornerstone of economic vitality and social progress in our region.

We aspire to be a first-rank public research university with focused centers of excellence, prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing, technology-driven global society. We will be a leader in research and education in emerging areas of technology, science, and learning. We will be a leader in both framing and answering the questions faced by business, policy makers, healthcare professionals, and the public. We will be a valued partner to local industry, government, and cultural organizations, as well as with local schools, community colleges, universities, and institutions. We will be among the most creative, innovative universities in the world.

One of UT Dallas' great assets is its home— one of the largest, most economically productive, and diverse metropolitan areas in the world. As we create our future, we will do so in a way that builds on the nexus of the University and our community.

How We'll Get There

UT Dallas already possesses many qualities shared by the nation's best universities. For example, our entering freshman class typically has one of the highest average SAT scores among public universities in Texas. UT Dallas is one of only four universities in Texas whose faculty includes Nobel laureates as well as members of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.

The principal challenge we face is the size of the faculty. It is too small to compete with the nation's leading research universities. Nearly all top-quality universities — those such as MIT, Virginia, North Caroline, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, and UC Santa Barbara — have at least 800 to 1,000 faculty members. UT Dallas' faculty numbers just under 400. To compete with the best, we must increase the faculty to a more competitive size.

Why Dallas Needs Us to Succeed

The State of Texas produces $900 billion of gross state product annually and ranks as the nation's third most economically productive state, trailing only California and New York.

Regrettably, Texas does not rank highly with respect to the number of leading universities. The Association of American Universities (AAU), comprised of the nation's best research universities, includes only three from Texas: Rice, UT Austin, and Texas A&M. California boasts nine AAU universities, and New York, seven.

Among the top 10 United States metro area economies, only Dallas-Fort Worth lacks an AAU university. New York City and Los Angeles have four AAU universities each. Chicago has two. Dallas has none.

The region has a history of greatness achieved through the creativity of entrepreneurs who made Dallas a transportation hub in the rail age, a cotton trading center in the agricultural age, a banking, insurance and finance locus and a high tech center in recent times.

Dallas' success continues to depend on the knowledge, education, and creativity of its people. The University's founders recognized this at the institution's start, and it is just as true today: Dallas and UT Dallas must create the future they deserve.