It is my great privilege to share outstanding news!  After nearly 12 years of sustained efforts, the unwavering backing of three university presidents including former presidents James D. Spaniolo and Vistasp Karbhari, the focused commitment of UTA faculty, researchers, staff and students, and the steadfast collaboration of the Maverick family, UTA has earned the Texas Tier One designation from the state of Texas!

In the spring of 2020 in one of my first campus messages, I conveyed that continuing to meet Texas Tier One criteria would be one of four areas of focus during my tenure as interim president.  Even amidst the challenges of a global pandemic and an unprecedented shift to virtual teaching and learning, UTA sustained its pursuit of Texas Tier One to successfully reach today’s milestone.  It recognizes UTA’s academic and research excellence, and it secures our status as a preeminent institution for education, research and innovation.  I am so proud of this accomplishment and so grateful to our Maverick community for its hard work and dedication toward this goal.

This distinction provides new funding from the National Research University Fund (NRUF), a program created by Texas legislators in 2009 to help state institutions achieve prominence among national research universities.  This funding will supplement our ability to provide affordable, high caliber educational programs, expand our research capacity especially by attracting exemplary faculty, and make robust contributions to our region, state and nation’s economy with pioneering research and highly sought-after, workforce-ready graduates.

As just the fourth university in the state to achieve Texas Tier One status, our success in realizing this accomplishment is directly attributable to the dedication and hard work of our faculty, researchers, staff and students.  Your collective contributions enabled us to attain the Texas Tier One benchmarks and sustain them for two consecutive years, which include research expenditures, Ph.D. awards, honor society membership, freshman academic achievement, and faculty stature.  It was a monumental, long-term undertaking, and your unrelenting determination resulted in this recognition of excellence for our University.  

Thank you, Mavericks, for your contributions to this substantial achievement.  It places UTA among an elite group of national research institutions, and it magnifies our University’s capabilities and future successes.  

It is an honor to be a Maverick every day, but I have never been prouder than I am now with this tremendous news.  I trust you share my heightened sense of Maverick pride as we celebrate UTA’s newest accomplishment.  Thank you once again.

Go Texas Tier One and Go Mavs!