Greetings,

At The University of Texas at Arlington, we make a concerted effort to marry leading-edge innovation with an entrepreneurial spirit, as best exemplified by our Maverick Entrepreneur Program and Award Fund. This joint initiative from the College of Business and College of Engineering, established in 2018 with an anonymous gift from a UTA alumnus who continues to generously fund the program, helps students take their business ideas from concept to market and is now part of the new Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Innovation.

It recently received the Tech Titans of the Future University Level award, which recognizes a North Texas educational institution that encourages students to choose engineering- and technology-related disciplines as a career path. The award represents the latest example of how our focus on academic excellence and workforce readiness is improving our community and our state.

We have STEM student ambassadors who amaze, astonish and educate more than 13,000 elementary, middle and high school students annually with chemistry and physics demonstrations in English and Spanish. The impact of our STEM programs is national; this month, the Biden administration selected UTA mathematics Professor Minerva Cordera as one of just 12 recipients nationwide of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

On the research front, a chemistry professor has discovered a compound that works exceptionally well in some of the most toxic tumor environments, providing a new pathway to attack cancer. And a professor of civil engineering is using sustainable technology in the form of recycled plastic pins to stabilize highway slopes and increase the loadbearing capacity of highway walls.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a growing interest in public health programs and careers. Enrollment has surged in UTA’s undergraduate public health program, increasing nearly 40% since fall 2019. In the same period, the number of students seeking a Master of Public Health degree has tripled at the University. This means many of the public health experts who will guide us through this health crisis and the next will be Mavericks.

Your support of UTA allows us to educate a new generation of thinkers and leaders, while advancing the state of the art in science, business and engineering. Thank you for your interest in the Maverick community.

Sincerely,

Teik C. Lim, Ph.D. UTA President ad interim