UT Dallas President Prabhas Moghe gestures toward the attendees ahead of his inaugural remarks, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
North Texas is on the precipice of immense transformation — one that the University of Texas at Dallas will help lead, Prabhas Moghe said Thursday at his inauguration as president of the school.
“My goal is clear: to be the intellectual partner of choice for industries that are shaping our future,” Moghe said in presenting his vision for the young public research university. “Because if Dallas is a city that builds the future, then UT Dallas must be the university that helps imagine it first.”
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North Texas has seen a dramatic influx of residents, jobs and corporate headquarter relocations over the last decade. That expansion is reshaping the way we live and work, Moghe said, but it also reflects the region’s commitment to innovation and ambition.
“Communities everywhere are asking the very same question: Who is helping us to prepare for what comes next?” he said. “…That is precisely the kind of environment that a great public research university is meant to serve and to shape.”
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At the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building on Thursday, Moghe donned a green robe and addressed students, faculty, alumni, elected officials and UT System leaders. During his speech, he charted a vision for how UTD will spearhead the region’s growth and help North Texas lead the state.
Rev. Dale Hopely Jr. shares his remarks during the inauguration of UTD President Prabhas Moghe on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
He highlighted three main commitments: to ensure graduates are prepared for the rapidly evolving workforce and economy, to prioritize cross-disciplinary academia and research, and to become the “one-stop destination for industry seeking talent, ideas and partners.”
Moghe, a former executive vice president for academic affairs at Rutgers University, became UTD’s sixth president in August. An accomplished bioengineer, he has said he aims to lean into the university’s origins as an “intellectual engine” for Dallas and industry research partner to semiconductor company Texas Instruments.
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Related: How UT Dallas advanced in arts, athletics and research under Richard Benson
UTD, which turned 56 in September, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing institutions in the nation. The school, which has long aimed to be a research powerhouse, saw dramatic advances over the last decade, including enrollment growth by roughly 22% and a doubling of federally funded research expenditures to more than $80 million in 2024. (UTD is a supporter of the Education Lab at The Dallas Morning News).
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“That rise is inseparable from the region we serve,” Moghe said.
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More than 30,000 students now attend UTD’s seven schools, and 9,000 students graduate each year. Roughly two-thirds of UTD’s graduates live and work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
UTD President Prabhas Moghe watches as Axes founder and CEO John Olajide speaks during the inauguration, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
On Thursday, Moghe pledged to catapult the university onto the national and global stage.
“The world should make room for us,” he said.
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In an interview with The Dallas Morning News this week, Moghe said he plans to measure student success across several benchmarks. Some are traditional data points, such as the percentage of students who complete their degrees in four to six years and the rate at which students re-enroll in UTD after their first year.
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Other indicators will cater to the school’s mission to distinguish itself as a research powerhouse, industry partner and entrepreneurship hub, Moghe said in the interview. That includes the number of undergraduate students who publish peer-reviewed research papers, start companies and study abroad during their college career.
A $10 million gift from the O’Donnell Foundation in March marked an investment in those measures of student success. Half of the gift established an endowment to support scholarships, emergency financial assistance and retention initiatives for undergraduates. The other half will fund experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom, such as research and study abroad programs.
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Moghe also plans to hire more faculty who teach and research in multiple disciplines, and tweak promotion and tenure rules to align with this emphasis. It’s a priority that Moghe, who has long viewed his role as a connector between academic disciplines, has championed throughout much of his career.
“The new opportunities are not sitting inside one discipline or another,” Moghe said in the interview. “They are straddling multiple disciplines. We have to reimagine what the new university is going to look like in pursuit of that, and we need to bring in faculty members who practice this team scholarship.”
The University of Texas Systems Chancellor John Zerwas (center) presents the university mace to UTD President Prabhas Moghe (right) during his inauguration on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
At Rutgers, Moghe garnered a reputation for his ability to create cross-disciplinary research opportunities, launching a program that set aside millions in institutional funding for researchers to work with faculty from other academic fields or a different Rutgers campus. His own research spans fields, including chemistry, engineering and biology.
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Moghe has also said he wants UTD to be a strategic partner to industries across the region, pairing students and faculty with companies to conduct research that addresses the future problems industry is bracing for. On Thursday, he pointed to rapidly evolving sectors including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, business and finance, advanced manufacturing and energy.
He laid out a vision for UTD to grow into a hub that brings students, faculty and staff, along with alumni, corporate partners and entrepreneurs, together in research and innovation.
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“I want the university to be an experiment in high concentration, high- density mingling and intellectual collisions,” he said in an interview. “I don’t want this to be a static place. I want it to be dynamic.”
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The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.