About

Our Values:

• Student-centered culture
• Integrity
• Creativity
• Enterprising spirit
• Accessibility

A schoolwide steering committee comprised of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members worked collaboratively with an outside educational consultant to develop the framework. Through an iterative process, the committee and school leadership including the dean, vice dean, department heads, assistant and associate deans refined all aspects and then solicited input from faculty and staff to coalesce the final version. Included in the final draft are five pillars that chart the future focus of the Jonsson School: Academics, student experience and success, research excellence and impact, school pride and engagement and partnership and collaboration.

The planning process resulted in the development of an actionable, five-year strategic framework which affirms our vision and solidifies the future direction for the Jonsson School through targeted priorities, strategies and actions. We are dedicated to fostering a student-centric environment, placing paramount importance on the principles of integrity, creativity, accessibility and an enterprising spirit, as these values shape the essence of our commitment to excellence.

This translates to providing exceptional, student-centered educational experiences creating in-demand academic programs; delivering cutting-edge curriculum in each of our degree programs and promoting an active scholarly and creative activity agenda for faculty, staff and students. Our citizens will be prepared to lead with integrity, civic-mindedness and creativity in service of the public good.

All Jonsson School constituents should experience a nurturing environment where people from all backgrounds, identities, abilities and lived experiences are welcomed, valued, supported and empowered to become their best selves and achieve their fullest potential.

Over the decade, 2010-2020, the Jonsson School at UT Dallas has built a steady, sustained momentum, meeting or surpassing many of the benchmarks laid out in its prior 2010-2020 strategic plan.

At a high level, the Jonsson School has significantly exceeded its stated goal of increasing the student population to over 5,000, reaching that goal in fiscal year 2014 (with more than 8,800 students in fiscal year 2025). The Jonsson School also exceeded its stated goal of doubling its research expenditures, reaching a total of $65 million in fiscal year 2023, as well as producing more than 70 PhDs each year, granting 97 doctoral degrees in 2020 alone (and, subsequently, more than 100 doctoral degrees each year in both 2022 and 2023).

Additionally, the Jonsson School has also opened, cumulatively, more than 550,000 square feet of research, academic and administrative space in the last decade, including the Bioengineering and Sciences Building, Engineering and Computer Science West, and the Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building in conjunction with UT Southwestern Medical Center.

In terms of establishing comprehensive degree programs in the Jonsson School, the Department of Mechanical Engineering launched its PhD program, the Department of Systems Engineering was created offering a master’s program, and the Department of Bioengineering now offers a bachelor’s degree program. The ranks of tenure-track faculty grew by 60 professors since the prior strategic plan, while research hubs led by Jonsson School professors opening over the last decade include the Center for Applied AI and Machine Learning, Center for Atomically Precise Fabrication of Solid-State Quantum Devices, Center for Control Science and Technology, Center for Imaging and Surgical Innovation, Center for Smart Mobility and the UTD Center for Wind Energy. With continued significant growth in enrollment, even with all these accomplishments, sustained advancement of these trajectories is critical for the Jonsson School. For more in-depth detail about our strategic accomplishments thus far, please see below.