UTA completed 20 major building additions or renovations during W.H. Nedderman's 20-year tenure as UTA President.

Rapid enrollment increases combined with a significant expansion in graduate programs and accompanying research created a continual demand for space and facilities in the 1970s and '80s. UTA President W.H. Nedderman and his administration lobbied hard and successfully for substantial new building and renovation funds.

During Dr. Nedderman's two-decade tenure as president, UTA's physical plant inventory grew by 20 new buildings or major additions, totaling approximately 1.6 million gross square feet of space, with a total construction cost of $158.45 million. The University received an additional $14.94 million for both major and minor renovations to existing buildings and $18.35 million for land acquisition and landscaping.

"It has always been exciting to see the physical plant develop and grow in order to better serve students, faculty and staff-to better carry out our mission of teaching, research and service," said Dr. Nedderman, now president emeritus. "It was exciting during my time as president, and I continue to be enthused as I see what President Witt has done and is planning to do."

New campus construction during the period included the Fine Arts Building (1975), the Activities Building (1976), the Engineering Lab Building (1977), the Business Building (1977) and the Tennis Center (1975).

Other new structures included the University Bookstore on Cooper Street (1978), now the Center for Nanotechnology; Maverick Stadium (1980); the Nursing Building (1982), later renamed Pickard Hall; University Village Apartments (1981); the Architecture Building (1986); and the Engineering II Building (1988), later renamed Nedderman Hall.

A significant outreach addition occurred with the 1987 establishment of UTA's Riverbend Campus in east Fort Worth. There, a 48,000-square-foot building was constructed on 18 acres to house the Automation & Robotics Research Institute. The expansion was made possible through a $10 million capital fund drive spearheaded jointly by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and the University.

Numerous other campus buildings underwent remodeling and renovation during the same period, including Ransom Hall, College Hall, the Geoscience Building, the University Center, Engineering I (later renamed Woolf Hall), the Central Library, Texas Hall, Trimble Hall, Hammond Hall, the Social Work Complex, Carlisle Hall, the Life Science Building and Swift Center.

In all, 36 buildings were added to the campus physical plant or underwent major renovations during the 1970s and 1980s.