The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas or UTD) is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in the Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, 18 miles (29 km) north of downtown Dallas. The institution, established in 1961 as the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest and later renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies (SCAS), began as a research arm of Texas Instruments.

In 1969, the founders bequeathed SCAS to the state of Texas officially creating The University of Texas at Dallas. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the university as a doctoral research university with “Highest Research Activity” and the undergraduate admissions as “more selective…