For Vikas Sinha, the university where he earned his PhD will now carry his and his wife Anuradha’s names.
The Indian-origin couple has donated USD 20 million to the University of North Texas (UNT), prompting the university to establish the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics.
The gift to their alma mater will support artificial intelligence and advanced analytics while creating new opportunities for students and faculty, a press statement said.
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A college in their name
The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics will serve as an academic and research hub focused on artificial intelligence, intelligent systems and data analytics.
It will bring together expertise in areas including AI, cybersecurity, data science, advanced analytics, health informatics, information science, library science and learning technologies.
The USD 20 million contribution will establish six permanent endowments supporting college leadership, student scholarships, endowed professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies.
The college will be organised around two academic divisions. The Division of Applied Intelligence and Informatics will focus on building and deploying intelligent systems, while the Division of Information and Learning Applications will examine how information and intelligent systems operate within human and institutional contexts.
The college will also house the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute. The institute will connect AI and analytics research and education across UNT and create opportunities for interdisciplinary research, shared infrastructure, external research funding and industry partnerships, the statement said.
From students to donors
The Sinhas’ investment in UNT has grown alongside their involvement with the university. 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 another major gift, creating the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.
“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” Vikas Sinha said.
“It is a large part of why Anu and I believe so strongly in what UNT can make possible for students, including those who may come here from another country carrying the same ambition and belief in education that we once did.
“For us, this gift is about paying that opportunity forward and recognising that immigrants don’t simply participate in the American dream, they help build it,” he said.
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, he said.
From Kurnool to North Texas
After studying at Sri Venkateswara University and civil engineering at the G Pulla Reddy Engineering College in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, Vikas and Anuradha came to the United States for advanced education, earning graduate degrees from the Florida Atlantic University.
Vikas later continued his education at Northwestern University before earning his PhD from the University of North Texas in 2023.
Vikas now serves as vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom and has served on the UNT College of Information Leadership Board since 2023.
