[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2698-E2699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING UT DALLAS: CREATING THE FUTURE SINCE 1969

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 3, 2009

  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker it is a great honor to 
recognize a fine higher educational institution--the University of 
Texas at Dallas. Beginning this fall, the University of Texas at Dallas 
marks its 40th year as a Texas public university and a member of The 
University of Texas system.
  Born at the dawn of the information age, UT Dallas helped pioneer new 
fields in science and technology and created sought-after degree 
programs that did not exist a generation ago. These include geospatial 
information science, neuroscience, bioinformatics, nanotechnology and 
materials science, among others.
  The University has a unique past: built from the top down, first a 
research institute, then a graduate school, and finally becoming a full 
university with the admission of its first freshman class in 1990.
  Located in the center of one of the most dynamic economic and 
demographic regions in the nation, UT Dallas owes its existence to 
three entrepreneurs, Eugene McDermott, Cecil Green and J. Erik Jonsson, 
who deeply valued education and entrepreneurial activity.
  These individuals, who also founded Texas Instruments, found 
themselves importing talent from outside the state while the region's 
bright young people pursued educations elsewhere. Having identified the 
need, the Founders took action to serve both their enterprise and the 
region, establishing the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, 
which in 1961 was renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, 
SCAS. The center recruited some of the best scientific talent in the 
nation.
  In 1969, the founders bequeathed the Southwest Center for Advanced 
Studies to the State of Texas, and then-Governor Preston Smith signed 
the bill establishing UT Dallas, thus fulfilling the mandate to create 
science and technology educational opportunities in North Texas. By 
law, the University offered only graduate degrees until 1975. In 1990, 
the University admitted its first freshman class.
  The transition from a graduate research facility to a university with 
an emphasis on engineering, mathematics, the sciences and management 
has been facilitated by the excellence of the UT Dallas faculty. Among 
them are four members of the National Academies--Dr. Ray Baughman, Dr. 
David Daniel, Dr. Brian Berry and Dr. Don Shaw--and Nobel laureate, Dr. 
Russell Hulse. Other Nobel laureates have included the late Dr. 
Polykarp Kusch and the late Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid.
  During the past decade, the University's teaching mission has 
expanded, its external research funding nearly doubled, its program 
offerings grew and its reputation has gained notice nationally. The 
student body has grown, even as quantitative markers of excellence--
average entering SAT scores, graduation rates, numbers of distinguished 
scholarship holders and national merit scholarship winners--have also 
moved up.
  UT Dallas has a unique past, and its aspirations to become a top 
national research university promise an even more remarkable future. 
Congratulations to everyone who helped make 40 years of educating the 
best and brightest a reality at UT Dallas. Thank you for all you do to 
improve Texas. God bless you and I salute you.

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