President David E. Daniel
UT Dallas experienced record growth in enrollment, increased research activity and new fundraising records last year, achievements reflected in a newly released annual report that details continued progress toward many key goals of the University’s strategic plan.
Highlights in the annual report include:
- Total enrollment of more than 19,000 students, including the largest freshman class ever at 1,788 students.
- More than $55 million in gifts and pledges.
- Research spending of about $94 million.
- The largest class of National Merit Scholars ever – 53.
- The opening of the Venture Development Center, an 8,000-square-foot business incubator.
The report recaps the University’s performance during 2011 and also provides a measure of the progress made in the last seven years.
(10.14 MB)Since 2005, the University has increased enrollment by 35 percent, the four-year graduation rate by 50 percent and annual research expenditures and doctoral degree production by 300 percent. In addition, annual fundraising has risen by 500 percent.
More than 200 tenured and tenure-track faculty members from leading universities and research institutes around the world have joined the faculty. University leaders plan to hire 200 more during the next decade. To keep pace with growth, more than $6 million has been spent on new buildings and infrastructure, including a new residence hall that opened in time to welcome 400 freshmen for Fall 2011.
“There is an emphasis on growth, but it is accompanied by further improvement in the quality of our University,” said President David E. Daniel. “The student body has grown dramatically, and at the same time, our students’ level of achievement was not only sustained but actually increased.”
Growing Excellence
More than 30 percent of students were new to campus, including the largest freshman class ever (1,788), the largest number of freshmen living on campus (900) and the largest number of students overall living on campus (3,400).
A testament to the University’s ability to offer rigorous programs for talented students, the freshman cohort had the largest-ever number of National Merit Scholars, 53, up from 39 in 2010 and more than any other UT System institutions combined. The total was also more than Caltech (36), Washington (14), UCLA (34), Virginia (37), and Michigan (44).
The average SAT score for the entering freshman class also increased three points to 1,248.The retention rate for freshmen—those who returned from Fall 2010—was 83 percent.
Research and Technology Transfer
Fall 2011 enrollment at UT Dallas set several records, including the proportion of new students on campus. Of a total enrollment of more than 19,000, new students accounted for almost 31 percent.
Annual research expenditures grew by more than 14 percent in 2011, boosting UT Dallas toward the $100 million mark, a major benchmark for research universities.
The year also offered a major milestone with the opening of the Venture Development Center. The 8,000-square-foot business incubator facilitates the launch of enterprises founded on technology and developed by students and faculty.
“The Dallas/Fort Worth region’s pathway to prosperity is through innovation. We’re helping to carry the region forward by realizing the vision of our founders to create the ‘MIT of the Southwest,’” said Daniel. “And we’re doing it faster than even I could hope.”
A $30 million gift was presented by alumnus Naveen Jindal with fellow alumni Charles and Nancy Davidson to the newly named Naveen Jindal School of Management. Shown from left to right: Jindal, Hasan Pirkul, dean of the school, and the Davidsons.
Donors Set Records
Donors set new records in nearly every measure used to gauge private support with more than $55 million in total gifts and pledges, including the largest alumni donation on record.
Naveen Jindal MBA’92 and Charles and Nancy Davidson (MS’80 and BS’80, respectively) donated a combined $30 million to the newly named Naveen Jindal School of Management. Theirs is the largest alumni gift in the University’s history. The Davidson Management Honors Program, newly named, recognizes the Houston couple.