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UT Dallas President Prabhas Moghe gestures toward the attendees ahead of his inaugural remarks, on Thursday, April 2, 2026,\u00a0 in Richardson.<\/p>\n
Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
North Texas is on the precipice of immense transformation<\/a> \u2014 one that the University of Texas at Dallas will help lead, Prabhas Moghe said Thursday at his inauguration as president of the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is clear: to be the intellectual partner of choice for industries<\/a> that are shaping our future,\u201d Moghe said in presenting his vision for the young public research university. \u201cBecause if Dallas is a city that builds the future, then UT Dallas must be the university that helps imagine it first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Prabhas Moghe, UT Dallas’ new president, wants to bridge academia and industry<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019s commitment to innovation and ambition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCommunities everywhere are asking the very same question: Who is helping us to prepare for what comes next?\u201d he said. \u201c…That is precisely the kind of environment that a great public research university is meant to serve and to shape.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Related: SMU’s future ‘inextricably linked’ to Dallas’ growth, new president Jay Hartzell says<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the Edith O\u2019Donnell 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\u2019s growth and help North Texas lead the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rev. Dale Hopely Jr. shares his remarks during the inauguration of UTD President Prabhas Moghe\u00a0on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n 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 \u201cone-stop destination for industry seeking talent, ideas and partners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Moghe, a former executive vice president for academic affairs at Rutgers University, became UTD\u2019s sixth president in August<\/a>. An accomplished bioengineer, he has said he aims to lean into the university\u2019s origins as an \u201cintellectual engine\u201d for Dallas and industry research partner to semiconductor company Texas Instruments.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: How UT Dallas advanced in arts, athletics and research under Richard Benson<\/a><\/p>\n 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).\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: How three college presidents who are leaving this year helped transform North Texas<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat rise is inseparable from the region we serve,\u201d Moghe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n More than 30,000 students now attend UTD\u2019s seven schools, and 9,000 students graduate each year. Roughly two-thirds of UTD\u2019s graduates live and work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.<\/p>\n UTD President Prabhas Moghe watches as Axes founder and CEO John Olajide speaks during the inauguration, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Richardson.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n On Thursday, Moghe pledged to catapult the university onto the national and global stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe world should make room for us,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: UNT President Harrison Keller unveils strategic plan: ‘We’re just getting started’<\/a><\/p>\n Other indicators will cater to the school\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n A $10 million gift from the O\u2019Donnell Foundation in March<\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u2019s a priority that Moghe, who has long viewed his role as a connector between academic disciplines, has championed throughout much of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe new opportunities are not sitting inside one discipline or another,\u201d Moghe said in the interview. \u201cThey 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI want the university to be an experiment in high concentration, high- density mingling and intellectual collisions,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cI don’t want this to be a static place. I want it to be dynamic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UT Dallas President Prabhas Moghe gestures toward the attendees ahead of his inaugural remarks, on Thursday, April 2,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[732,27,29,28,88032,89396,90041,89204,89398,90042,89275],"class_list":{"0":"post-232625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news","12":"tag-tp-dallas-fortworth","13":"tag-tp-ed-lab-college-career","14":"tag-tp-ed-lab-school","15":"tag-tp-education-lab","16":"tag-tp-higher-education","17":"tag-tp-innovation","18":"tag-tp-richardson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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