UNT

UNT Ph.D. Grad Gives $2M to Launch Data Science Innovation Lab

by | Aug 23, 2025
Broadcom executive Vikas Sinha and his wife, Anuradha, have invested more than $5 million in UNT’s data science program, aiming to fuel opportunity in a field “at the heart of the job market.”
MORE
How North Texas Cities Are Turning University Partnerships Into Engines for Growth
by | Aug 6, 2025
At the statewide TUNIE meeting hosted at SMU, top local economic developers laid out how they’re teaming up with universities to drive innovation and entrepreneurship. Leaders from Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, and McKinney talked anchor institutions to smart-city pilots—but for better partnerships, one ask rose to the top: “Who do I call first?”
MORE
UNT’s Edible Campus: Where Ancient Farming Traditions Meet Urban Agriculture
by | Jul 3, 2025
The USDA-funded effort aims to turn unused campus spaces into agricultural classrooms and edible landscapes, while linking students to Denton’s food ecosystem.
MORE
From Forest Baths to Recharge Rooms: How One North Texas Entrepreneur Is Transforming Workplaces Into Destinations
by | Oct 15, 2024
Marissa Heyl is rewiring the workplace—with design. Her Inclusive Wellness Design firm uses neuroscience to create joy-inducing, productivity-boosting spaces that give employees another reason to step away from the home office. Think "happy brain chemicals" meets cutting-edge design, with a dash of "Meow Wolf-meets-Miraval" thrown in for good measure.
MORE

Telepresence Tech: Two Dallas Digital Pioneers Team Up to Launch Life-Size Peer-to-Peer Streaming Platform

by | Jul 24, 2024
Glass-Media founder Daniel Black and 900lbs founder Steve Deitz are bringing human scale to conversations—wherever you are—with PeerVsn. "Life-size scale provides more impact and focus than a half-filled browser window," Deitz says.

The duo plans to leverage their "second-mover advantage" to improve video conferencing and telepresence across industries.
MORE
North Texas Cities Crush List of Best Real Estate Markets in U.S.
by | Aug 22, 2023
McKinney and Frisco rank No. 1 and No. 2 of 300 U.S. cities on WalletHub's list of "2023's Best Real-Estate Markets." See how close Denton and Allen came to the top in a list that tracked everything from home value forecasts to housing affordability to job growth rate.
MORE
‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’ Opal Lee Receives Honorary Doctorate at UNT Commencement
by | May 15, 2023
It wasn't the first time Lee walked the stage at the university. Way back in 1963, she earned a master's degree in education at what was then known as North Texas State University.
MORE
UNT and COMSovereign to Collaborate on 5G Edge-Centric Research Platform for Advanced Air Mobility and More
by | Feb 21, 2023
UNT and Dallas-based communications tech company COMSovereign are partnering to develop and launch a new 5G edge-centric infrastructure test platform, funded in part by a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. With the new program, UNT's Dr. Kamesh Namuduri says his team will "be able to expand our focus on wireless connectivity and research into Advanced Air Mobility technologies including UAVs, where UNT is already actively engaged with an expanding network of industry and government partners."
MORE

UNT, Workforce Commission to Use $12.7M Grant to Create Texas Beacons of Excellence

by | Nov 28, 2022

University of North Texas Workplace Inclusion & Sustainable Employment (UNT WISE), in partnership with Texas Workforce Commission, announced it will use a $12.7 million grant to create the Texas Beacons of Excellence to help employers enhance their skills in recruiting, retaining, and accommodating employees with disabilities.

The goal is to educate employers who use subminimum wage contracts about the benefits of competitive, integrated employment, according to a statement....

MORE
The Last Word: UNT’s Calvin Henard on Engineering a Bacteria that ‘Eats’ Greenhouse Gases
In his lab at the BioDiscovery Institute, Henard engineers methanotrophic bacteria to convert methane gas into bioplastics, biofuels, and other products. While they're at it, the methanotrophs also consume carbon dioxide, another key ingredient causing climate change. With a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a national labs consortium, Henard has begun a three-year study into the beneficial bacteria, which can lead to a more sustainable way to produce fuels, plastics, and chemicals than by using petroleum.
MORE
UNT Geographers Get $1.5M NSF Grant to Explore Tech’s Impact on Urban Forests

University of North Texas faculty members Alexandra Ponette-González and Matthew Fry will soon launch a a five-year study—backed by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation—to explore how digital tools like i-Tree influence urban forest sustainability and equity....

MORE
‘We Are Going to Change the World’: $150M Grant Fuels UNT Health Science Center’s Diversity-Focused Alzheimer’s Research
by | Oct 3, 2022
The funding from the National Institutes of Health will help UNT HSC at Fort Worth advance its ongoing research on how Alzheimer's disease affects different racial and ethnic groups. Sid O'Bryant, executive director of UNT HSC's Institute for Translational Research, said there's never been a large-scale study like this before. “This award and project are nothing short of a bio behavioral ‘moonshot’ program," adds Brian Gladue, HSC executive VP for research and innovation.
MORE

UNT Dallas’ New Ryan Tower Is a Beacon of Promise in Southern Dallas

by | Sep 14, 2022
The 180-foot Ryan Tower stands at the heart of the UNT Dallas campus and can be seen for miles in every direction. Funded by a $2 million gift from UNT benefactors Amanda and G. Brint Ryan, the tower is meant to serve as "an icon of the university, a symbol for higher learning, and a prominent symbol of the community it serves." "For me, it symbolizes the heights our students and our future students will attain," UNT Dallas President said at the tower's ribbon-cutting.
MORE
China’s NetDragon Has a New Robot CEO—and North Texas Ties
by | Sep 1, 2022
When the University of North Texas launched its NetDragon Digital Research Centre in 2018, it saw great things for the future. But one thing it may not have foreseen: Last week NetDragon—a Chinese mobile and online gaming developer—appointed an AI-powered virtual humanoid robot as its "Rotating CEO."
MORE
The Last Word: Artist Dan Lam on Why She Moved to Dallas
Lam, who has bachelor of fine arts from UNT and a fine art masters from Arizona State, moved to Dallas three years ago. After teaching and doing workshops, she broke out as a successful artist by squishing away assiduously at her squishy art works in her studio, applying for residencies, establishing a great website, and conquering Instagram. 
MORE
Medicine Delivered in Plant Seeds? UNT Researchers Get $1.4M Grant for a First-of-Its-Kind Study
by | Aug 17, 2022
The University of North Texas BioDiscovery Institute's $1.4 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation is seeding research in sustainable medicine—literally.

“What we're thinking long-term is that if plants can store medicines in seeds, you eat the seeds, and the medicine is already contained. You don't have all these factories, you don't need any chemicals—it's just there and available,” said UNT lead researcher Elizabeth Skellam.
MORE