University of Texas Arlington

Maverick Match success

The University of Texas at Arlington has secured an estimated $12.2 million in gifts since 2009 after the creation of a program that uses natural gas royalties to make dollar-for-dollar matches to the endowment fund, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The Maverick Match is pumping donation dollars across academic disciplines by helping pay for professorships, scholarships and research -- which in turn is expected to attract more faculty and students. The notion of having a double impact resonates with donors, alumni, corporations and foundations aiming to invest in UTA.

Students getting vaccinated

A new Texas law that requires private and public college students younger than 30 to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis has caused a surge in demand for the low-cost vaccine, area public health officials say, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As of Friday, more than 1,100 new undergraduates at UT Arlington and more than 250 new graduate students had completed their vaccine documentation. The university is working with students to make sure they complete the requirements by the start of classes Jan. 17.

Welcoming a new athletics director

The Fort Worth Business Press’ People section reported that Jim Baker has been named UT Arlington’s new director of intercollegiate athletics. Baker will oversee UT-Arlington’s 14 Division I intercollegiate sports programs and usher in a new era of competition as the university moves this summer to the Western Athletic Conference. The column also featured news that Ramon Lopez, a professor of physics at UT Arlington, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Andre Pires de Silva, an assistant professor of biology, was awarded a three-year, $301,447 National Science Foundation Grant.