The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas or informally UTD) is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in 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 2015 edition of the Carnegie Foundation classifies UT Dallas as an R1 doctorate granting university with the "Highest Research Activity". The University of Texas at Dallas offers more than 138 academic programs across its eight schools and hosts more than 50 research centers and institutes. With a number of interdisciplinary degree programs, its curriculum is designed to allow study that crosses traditional disciplinary lines and to enable students to participate in collaborative research labs.

The school has a Division III athletics program in the American Southwest Conference and fields 13 intercollegiate teams. The university recruits worldwide for its chess team and has a nationally recognized debate team. For spring 2015 commencement, the university granted 1,779 bachelor's degrees, 1,685 master's degrees and 89 PhDs for a total of 3,553 degrees.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_at_Dallas