By LaKisha Ladson
The Erik Jonsson School, officially 25 this year, has a soul decades older. The concept for a world-class school for advanced training of
founding programs—electrical engineering and computer science—are
following the establishment of Texas Instruments. TI founders Erik
among the top degree-granting programs in the country. The Jonsson
Jonsson, Eugene McDermott and Cecil Green eventually helped
School was the first in the nation to offer an accredited bachelor’s
establish UT Dallas in 1969, but faced opposition to the creation
degree in telecommunications engineering and one of the first to offer a
of an engineering school.
bachelor’s degree in software engineering.
Some naysayers expressed misgivings for cultural reasons:
Today, the school has 3,600 students, 120 tenure-track faculty
A high-technology research center in the middle of an open prairie
members (one-fifth of whom hold endowed chairs and professorships)
seemed farfetched. Newspaper reports cited politics and rivalry as
and one of the largest voluntary internship and cooperative programs in
other factors for opposition—the Dallas/Fort Worth area already had
the United States. It ranks fourth among graduate engineering pro-
two engineering schools.
grams in Texas. Research funding in 2011 topped $47 million.
But proponents, many from the growing ranks of nearby technology
Public-private partnerships have proven key to raising the reputation
companies, doggedly pursued establishing an engineering school at
of the school and attracting talented faculty members who inspire the
the University. Formal task forces of civic, political and industry leaders
next generation of innovators.
produced reports that echoed the sentiment of UT Dallas’ founders—
An economic development agreement called “Project Emmitt”—
the continuing education of employees was crucial to the economic
a collaborative effort between Texas Instruments, the State of Texas
vitality of the region and the state. Further, the combined number of
and The University of Texas System—provided $300 million to expand
electrical engineering graduates in the state could not meet demand
and improve the Jonsson School. Improvements included construction
even in just the Dallas area.
of the state-of-the-art Natural Science and Engineering Research
When statistics and reports were met with skepticism, campus and
Laboratory, which rivals museums in aesthetics and leading universities
industry leaders took to the skies, offering helicopter tours showing the
and industry labs in research equipment capabilities; attraction of top
University’s proximity to technology companies contrasted with the long
doctoral students; and recruitment and retention of faculty members
commute to other universities. It made sense, they argued, for an
from some of the best universities and research institutes in the world.
engineering school to exist in the heart of Richardson’s Telecom Corridor. In 1985, state leaders agreed and granted approval of an engineering program. But in order to be recognized as a school, $52 million had to be raised by 1991; enrollment had to exceed 700 students; and plans had to be developed for an engineering facility. A year later, most of the conditions were met. Leaders raised $49.5 million, enrollment stood at 745, and construction of a building was about to begin. UTD was finally home to the state’s first new engineering school in 36 years.
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Since then, the school has continued to exceed expectations. Its
engineers and scientists in the North Dallas area began in the 1950s
utdallas.edu
“The unwavering commitment and support of visionaries and community and industry leaders willed the Jonsson School into existence,” said Dean Mark W. Spong, holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair in Electrical Engineering and the Excellence in Education Chair. “That same spirit continues to propel us as we become one of the great engineering schools not just in Texas or the country, but the world.”
