University of North Texas alum Vikas Sinha and his wife, Anuradha, donated $20 million to launch a college specializing in AI and advanced analytics at UNT.
The Denton university said the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics will concentrate on the development, application and responsible use of AI, intelligent systems and data analytics.
“Anu and I see this as an investment in what students will be able to imagine and accomplish in the years ahead,” Vikas, who earned his doctoral degree from UNT in 2023, said in a statement. “Artificial intelligence will be one of the defining technologies of our generation, and universities have an essential role to play in preparing the people who will shape its future.”
The gift also will create six permanent endowments supporting college leadership, student scholarships, endowed professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies, UNT said.
leads the AI and analytics college, which was called the College of Information.
The college comprises three parts: the Division of Applied Intelligence and Informatics, the Division of Information and Learning Applications, and the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we work, conduct research and solve problems, and universities have an important responsibility to help shape what comes next,” UNT President Harrison Keller said in a statement. “The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics positions UNT to lead in that work.”
Third donation to UNT
The $20 million contribution follows two other UNT donations from the Sinhas.
In 2024, they gave a gift establishing the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, along with endowments supporting scholarships, faculty, research and special initiatives. A year later, they made a donation to create the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.
Paying it forward
Vikas and Anu Sinha immigrated to the U.S. from India to continue their education after each earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University. In the U.S., they earned graduate degrees from Florida Atlantic University. Vikas then went on to Northwestern University before earning his doctoral degree from UNT.
Vikas is vice president of the mainframe software business at Palo Alto, California-based semiconductor and infrastructure software company Broadcom. He joined the UNT College of Information Leadership Board in 2023.
“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” Vikas said in a statement.
“For us,” he said, “this gift is about paying that opportunity forward and recognizing that immigrants don’t simply participate in the American dream — they help build it.”
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