A New Vision for Our University by The University of Texas

Annual Giving Newsletter | Fall 2011

A New Vision for Our University W

HAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD. It resonates because it’s true. And one of the biggest ways we can change the world is by creating a new model for the public research university of the future. At Texas, our size and the scope and depth of our programs position us to be the national leader in re-envisioning our type of institution. To fulfill our collective mission for society, I believe every research university must focus on five areas:

1. We must help solve global problems, expand knowledge, and improve lives throughout society. From Professor John Zhang’s research that allows early detection of cancer through a simple blood test to Professor Clint Dawson’s breakthroughs in hurricane modeling at our Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, new discoveries are moving us toward a better world every day. 2. We must offer the highest-quality undergraduate and graduate education to prepare the next generation of leaders. It starts with recruiting great students, and with the help of the Texas Exes, the new Forty Acres Scholarship program is attracting the best in the nation. Strategic shifts in our curriculum require all freshmen to take a Signature Course, in which a seasoned professor teaches students skills critical to a high-level college education and introduces them to the treasures of the University. And in the College of Natural Sciences, our Freshman Research Initiative gets new students into laboratories working with faculty and graduate students. 3. We must exploit new technology and the opportunities for learning it creates. Technology continues to change our lives at an ever-increasing pace. And we’re discovering more every day about how people learn. We’re blending new technology with

cognitive science to create educational methods that are even more effective than the best of traditional classroom learning. 4. We must increase efficiencies to become both more effective and reduce cost. On the academic side, the biggest impact we can have on efficiency is increasing graduation rates, and I’ve just formed a new task force to find new ways of doing that. On the operational side, we have realized millions of dollars in savings over the past five years and continue to look at every level of operation for new efficiencies. 5. We must develop new revenue streams to become even more financially self-sufficient. State support per student has fallen by 41 percent in constant dollars since 1985. Tuition increases can only go so far toward making up the difference. So we’re always looking to develop new revenue streams. We aggressively patent and commercialize the technology coming out of our labs and leverage our brand, as with our new Longhorn Network, which will provide $300 million in television royalties over the next 20 years. Half of that royalty income will go to academics. I’m proud that we’ve now passed the halfway mark of our $3 billion Campaign for Texas. This campaign is critical in enabling the University to fulfill its mission. Read on to discover the many ways we’re changing the world today.

Hook ’em Horns, Bill Powers

Health and Wellness Drs. Kevin Dalby and Maria Person from the College of Pharmacy received grants from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas for research to further understand cancer biology and develop new cancer treatments. The grants will help fund research to develop new cancer drugs and improve detection and treatment for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, leukemias and lymphomas, and pancreatic cancer. Associate Professor of Psychology Chris Beevers (pictured left) in the College of Liberal Arts has begun to develop ways to identify soldiers who might be vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before they go off to war. The research, part of the Texas Combat PTSD Risk Project funded by the Department of Defense, could lead to more effective early prevention programs for predisposed service members. The University of Texas Elementary School’s wellness program, the Healthy Families Initiative (HFI), is transforming the lives of its own students and helping school districts outside Texas improve their own student health and fitness levels. HFI has demonstrated success over the past three years, with a decrease in the prevalence of obesity and an increase in physical activity and healthy eating. At the School of Nursing, researchers continue to make headway in the areas of childhood obesity, asthma management, health disparities, and chronic illness. Also, in response to the growing shortage of primary care providers, the school thas expanded two nurse practitioner programs. The Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team in the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education works with Texas communities, employing research-based strategies to significantly reduce tobacco use statewide. The team collects and analyzes data from participating communities to see if their prevention and cessation programs are succeeding and that money, time, and human resources are being used efficiently.

Business and Economy Subiendo: The Academy of Rising Leaders, a joint project of the McCombs School of Business, Texas Exes, and the University, prepares high school seniors to become leaders to address the needs of the next generation, including a growing Hispanic population that has become the largest and youngest minority group in the country. The summer program gives students the opportunity to solve real-world problems with the top names in business and politics. Texas Venture Labs is a campuswide program designed by faculty in the McCombs School of Business and the Cockrell School of Engineering to make it easier for student and faculty entrepreneurs to bring their innovations to market. The program, which also works closely with the School of Law and campus-based organizations such as the Austin Technology Incubator and the Office of Technology Commercialization, guides entrepreneurs to the business, technology, and legal resources available on campus and in the Texas entrepreneurial community. Technology innovations at the Cockrell School of Engineering are bridging the lab and marketplace, helping propel the nation’s economy and transforming everything from energy to health care. Thanks to novel courses, like 1SemesterStartup, taught by the school’s Professor of Innovation and Internet pioneer, Bob Metcalfe (pictured above right), students become more than engineers — they are entrepreneurs.

3 The University of Texas Libraries has received support from University Federal Credit Union to enhance the Life Science Library’s Science Study Break program. This program, which is open to the public, happens four times a year and features faculty and experts from the University discussing the reality and fantasy portrayed as fact in science-themed books, television, and movies.

From left: President Powers, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Michael Dell, and TACC director Jay Boisseau

Science and Technology The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) celebrates 10 years of supercomputing success this year. This spring also saw the dedication of Lonestar 4 (pictured above), its newest supercomputer, which is being used to better understand the patterns of rising sea levels and to conduct hurricane storm surge studies. Computational scientists at the Jackson School of Geosciences and the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) have partnered with researchers from the California Institute of Technology to develop a new supercomputer model that for the first time produces an unprecedented view of plate tectonics and the forces that drive it. The team, led by Professor Omar Ghattas of the Jackson School, employed TACC’s core supercomputer, Ranger, in its research. A team consisting of researchers from the School of Information, the Jackson School of Geosciences, and the Texas Natural Science Center received a grant to protect and digitize historic and significant fossil specimens held in the Non-vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory’s fossil repository. The project will develop educational artifacts, such as digital field trips, with a goal of attracting minority and high school students to the geosciences. The Freshman Research Initiative in the College of Natural Sciences educates new scientists at a scale that has never been attempted. It transforms students’ lives by empowering them to design experiments, perform data analyses, and publish peer-reviewed papers. They become innovators in their freshman year. More than 25 percent of the college’s freshman class is enrolled in this program.

The Marine Science Institute, in Port Aransas, is home to innovative research, education, and outreach programs that educate a global population dependent on the ocean ecosystem. The Visitors Center and Wetlands Education Center feature educational displays, aquaria filled with local plants and animals, and 3.5 acres of marshland. A new Estuarine Research Center that expands the institute’s research capabilities opened in summer 2011. The McDonald Observatory is home to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) — one of the world’s largest optical telescopes. The HET is being used to create the largest-ever map of the universe, which will provide a better understanding of dark energy. In addition to conducting groundbreaking research, the observatory makes astronomy accessible to the public through its extensive education and outreach programs. The Texas Natural Science Center spans the disciplines of biology, geology, and paleontology, and its research has produced collections of more than 6 million natural specimens providing a detailed picture of Texas biodiversity. The center is also home to the Texas Memorial Museum, where visitors can view dinosaurs and fossils, including the Glen Rose Dinosaur Tracks, made 112 million years ago.

Stay Connected Stay connected to the University by tapping into our social media directory. Visit our Know site at utexas.edu/know and connect today.

Arts and Humanities In less than three weeks, the Harry Ransom Center raised more than $30,000 to preserve five original costumes from “Gone With the Wind,” including character Scarlett O’Hara’s green curtain dress (pictured below). The dresses are part of the archive of legendary film producer David O. Selznick. Conservation work has begun to restore the dresses for the Ransom Center’s “Gone With the Wind” exhibition in 2014. Texas Performing Arts’ donor-supported Student Ticket Fund makes it possible for students of all ages to purchase $10 tickets to all performances. Last year the fund provided tickets to 11,000 students. As a result, Texas Performing Arts now has the highest student attendance of any performing arts center at a research university in the country. The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History produced the award-winning PBS documentary “When I Rise.” Thanks to the generous support of AT&T and a number of other contributors, the film chronicles the struggle of UT Austin Distinguished Alumna Barbara Smith Conrad, who overcame racial discrimination to become a world-renowned opera singer. The College of Fine Arts continues to host the Cohen New Works Festival presented by the University Co-op, a biennial celebration of new work created by UT students. Inaugurated in 2001, the festival is the largest of its kind and is run and organized entirely by a committee of graduate and undergraduate students. This winter the Blanton Museum of Art presents the largest installation of works from its C. R. Smith Collection of Art of the American West to be exhibited in a decade, featuring greats such as Frederic Remington. Complementing the installation, American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting explores the pioneers of America’s first native artistic style. This past spring various University of Texas Press titles won state and national awards. Honors include the coveted James Beard Award for Cookbook of the Year, which was presented to “Oaxaca al Gusto” by Diana Kennedy, and the Texas State Historical Association’s Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas History, which was awarded to “Before Brown” by Gary M. Lavergne.

Policy and Law The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation in the College of Communication is managing Project Vote Smart’s Key Votes Program, an online database providing citizens with access to congressional and state legislative voting records compiled by undergraduate researchers. The partnership expands to a national level the institute’s work to create more voters and better citizens through high-quality, nonpartisan information. The School of Law’s Capital Punishment Clinic received a victory in the spring when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that prisoners may bring a civil rights claim to try to obtain DNA evidence and assert their innocence. The decision is the latest in an unbroken string of victories the clinic’s faculty and students have enjoyed at the Supreme Court since 2004. Expert faculty and staff members representing two institutes within the School of Social Work’s Center for Social Work Research are serving on a working group designed to shape the future of victim services in the United States. The Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault’s director, Noël BuschArmendariz, PhD, Associate Director for Education and Communications Karen Kalergis, and the Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue’s assistant director, Stephanie Frogge, will serve on the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime-funded project called “Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services.” The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs became the largest UT System entity to have a presence in Washington, D.C., with the launch of the LBJ School Washington Program (pictured above) with two classes taught this summer and plans to expand to a full semester over the next few years. In tandem with classes, the school will hold major speaking events and conferences to catalyze discussion and action on critical and controversial public issues on the federal stage.

5 the Student Emergency Fund, which provides students with support when they need it most. The Powers Fellows Challenge is trying to raise $250,000 to match a challenge gift to enhance the William C. Powers Graduate Fellowship Program. Powers Graduate Fellowships, which are among the most prestigious fellowships awarded by the Graduate School, help recruit the best students to UT Austin and provide dissertation support to students in their final year.

Campus and Community The Butler School of Music announced plans to create the UT Academy of Music, a comprehensive music school that will provide a diverse range of music instruction to the Austin community. With classes taught primarily by Butler School graduate students under the supervision of faculty, the academy will further expand the school’s educational reach in the Austin area. The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement helps the University meet its mission of service to all Texans through its academic diversity and precollege youth development initiatives that include five UT Outreach Centers and the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence. The division helps foster cultural diversity on campus through programs like the Multicultural Engagement Center and the Diversity Education Institute. Horns Helping Horns offers opportunities for alumni and friends to help students in dire need make the difficult transition from home to the Forty Acres. Administered by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the program provides adult mentors who help eligible students purchase basic items for their dorm rooms. Mentors also provide help and encouragement throughout the school year. Texas Parents — The Parents’ Association of UT Austin — keeps parents informed, creates positive ways for them to be involved with UT, and connects them with UT administration, offices, and departments. The organization sponsors family weekend and family orientation; provides student scholarships; awards grants to student-led activities, projects, and events; and gives awards for outstanding teaching and research at the University. Students Hooked on Texas, which educates students on the long tradition of alumni support at UT, sponsored Spring into Giving (pictured above) this year to help build a culture of giving among students. Thanks to a generous alumni gift, eligible student gifts are matched, with the match going toward

The School of Undergraduate Studies created the Signature Society to help create and sustain innovative programming. The Magellan’s Circles are an example of the kind of offering made possible through the generosity of Signature Society members. These roundtable discussions provide a forum for students to ask questions of successful professionals and community leaders.

World and Culture The K-16 Education Center, a component of Continuing and Innovative Education, offers the UT Online High School and the Migrant Student Graduation Enhancement Program (pictured right), enabling students to earn high school credits through online courses that meet Texas curriculum requirements. Through these programs, students are staying in school and graduating on time — often at the top of their class. Graduate students in the School of Architecture designed a “green build” complex in Tanzania that will be constructed using local building materials and hand-built construction techniques. The project, under the direction of Professor Michael Garrison, includes 10 classrooms, dorms for students and volunteers, sanitation facilities, and a well to provide water for the children and community, animal herds, and crop irrigation. The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) is a partnership of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction, and maintenance practices. SITES will provide tools for those who influence land development and management practices and can address global concerns such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and resource depletion.

Texas Exes Students graduate from The University of Texas knowing they are receiving a degree from a top-ranked public university. Alumni join the Texas Exes to ensure things stay that way. Whether it’s through legislative advocacy, The Alcalde magazine, student leadership and scholarship programs, teaching awards, or just plain fun (like hosting the world’s biggest tailgate party before home football games), membership in the Texas Exes supports the University and its proud traditions. Since 1913 the official member publication of the Texas Exes — The Alcalde magazine — has kept alumni close to the Forty Acres through features on alumni, UT’s history and traditions, scientific discoveries, the Longhorn sports dynasty, and the Texas Exes. Recently the Exes launched a new member benefit — an online version of the magazine — which features almost everything in the print edition, plus more, from multimedia slideshows to a new blog on education policy to Webonly extras. Texas Exes Chapters and Networks are in full swing around the world, so visit TexasExes.org/chapters often to find out what’s happening in your area. With approximately 450,000 UT alumni worldwide, Texas Exes Chapters and Networks help unite alumni geographically or through specific interests. The association has made a lasting impact on the University and the student body through its robust scholarship program. In 1899 the association awarded its first scholarship and now gives out more than $2 million in scholarships every year. This fall the University welcomes the inaugural class of Forty Acres Scholars, recipients of UT’s first full-ride, merit-based scholarships funded by the Texas Exes Scholarship Foundation. All of what Texas Exes does is made possible through the support of more than 95,000 dues-paying members. Membership protects the value of your diploma, shows your pride in the University, and keeps you connected to campus news and fellow alumni through social events and business networking. For more information, visit TexasExes.org. Be on the lookout for a valuable new service, Permanent UT Email. Powered by Google, this ad-free service provides alumni with a UT-branded email address for life with 25GB of storage space — at no cost. All alumni will receive an email with more information and instructions on how to claim an address. To ensure we have your current email address on file, update your alumni profile at TexasExes.org/login.

Athletics On a campus where integrity and excellence are the standards, UT’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics stands out among the best programs in the country. As a self-supported auxiliary, UT Athletics receives no state or University funds, while supporting about 525 men and women student-athletes in 20 NCAA Division 1 intercollegiate sports and employing more than 300 full-time staff. UT Athletics pays its own direct costs, such as salaries, benefits, scholarships, utilities, parking, and construction. In addition, during the past five years, UT Athletics has contributed $30 million to campus academic initiatives. UT Athletics also manages and operates world-class facilities like Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Frank C. Erwin Center, Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium, UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Red and Charline McCombs Field, and Penick-Allison Tennis Center. Since 1993, 87 percent of UT student-athletes who exhausted their athletic eligibility graduated with a UT degree. The spring 2010 GPA for UT’s 20 sports programs was a collective 3.02, and 289 student-athletes posted a 3.0 GPA or higher in either the spring or fall 2010 semesters. In addition, 15 student-athletes earned Academic AllAmerica honors during the 2009-10 athletic season, and 70 are projected to graduate either this spring or summer. In August 2011, UT and ESPN, the worldwide television sports leader, launched the Longhorn Network, the first television network devoted to a single school.

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Annual Giving Programs The University of Texas at Austin wouldn’t be one of the top public research universities in the nation without the support of its dedicated alumni, parents, and friends. I’m one of many student callers for the University’s Annual Giving Programs, and I hope you’ll pick up the phone when we call to reconnect with you. We recently kicked off our Fall 2011 calling to inform you about exciting news on campus, update your contact information, and ask you to invest in the area that matters most to you at UT. The majority of gifts to UT are small gifts from alumni, parents, and friends which support student scholarships, research, and many other needed programs at our colleges and schools. These gifts really make a difference to students and faculty today. While part of my job is fundraising for the University, an even larger part is connecting with alumni and parents from across the country to hear about their UT experiences and share updates about the many changes

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Campaign for Texas on campus. Through these conversations I’ve learned from our alumni about many time-honored traditions on the Forty Acres that still resonate with today’s students. By supporting the University — and staying connected — you help keep these traditions alive. On behalf of all of the student callers, thank you, and Hook ’Em!

— Charlene V., ’12

Gift Planning A growing number of alumni and friends support the University through financial or estate planning, to make a gift now or in the future while you and your loved ones enjoy financial benefits today. The University’s Gift and Estate Planning team can help you with ways you can remember UT in your will, arrange a gift that provides you with income for life, leave UT a percentage of your retirement plan assets, or make a gift without giving away your assets. Visit giving.utexas.edu/giftplanning, email giftplan@www.utexas.edu, or call 866-488-3927 for answers to your gift planning questions.

The Campaign for Texas is raising $3 billion to help The University of Texas at Austin become the best public university in the nation. With the help of more than 200,000 alumni, friends, parents, and organizations, we have raised more than $1.6 billion in gifts and pledges so far. More than 88% of these gifts are under $1,000 — every gift makes a difference. The campaign is helping the University’s colleges, schools, and academic units nurture the thinking and exploration that will change the world by supporting four key priorities: students, faculty, facilities, and programs and research. Visit giving.utexas.edu/ campaign for more information on the transformative Campaign for Texas.

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