Indian-origin couple gifts $20 M to American university for focus on AI, advanced analytics

An Indian-origin couple has donated $20 million to its alma mater in Texas, boosting studies in artificial intelligence and advanced analytics at the institute and underscoring immigrants' contributions to building the “American dream”.

Anuradha and Vikas Sinha have gifted $20 million to the University of North Texas (UNT), focusing on artificial intelligence and advanced analytics and creating new opportunities for students and faculty, a press statement said.

In recognition of the gift, UNT will set up the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, which will serve as an academic and research hub focused on artificial intelligence, intelligent systems and data analytics, bringing together expertise in areas including AI, cybersecurity, data science, advanced analytics, health informatics, information science, library science and learning technologies.

The Sinhas’ investment in UNT has grown alongside their involvement with the university. In 2024, they gave a gift to establish 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.

“What excites us about UNT’s vision is that it will go beyond teaching students how to use AI. It will prepare them to build it, understand it, question it, govern it and apply it responsibly – developing both the builders and the stewards of intelligent systems,” he said.

The $20 million gift 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, focused on building and deploying intelligent systems; and the Division of Information and Learning Applications, focused on how information and intelligent systems operate within human and institutional contexts.

The college will also house the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, which 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.

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 and earned graduate degrees from 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.

UNT President Harrison Keller said 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”.

“The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics positions UNT to lead in that work.

“Vikas and Anuradha’s commitment will create new opportunities for our students and faculty to build, study and apply these technologies while advancing central priorities of our Look North: UNT 2030 strategic plan – reshaping how we prepare students for a changing labour market, accelerating interdisciplinary research and innovation and creating enduring value for North Texas and the state,” Keller said.

The gift will advance UNT’s goals around student success, research and innovation while helping prepare graduates for a workforce increasingly shaped by AI and data. UNT will celebrate the college's naming with a university event later this year, the statement said.

The University of North Texas is a public research university and the largest university in Dallas-Fort Worth. Through its campuses in Denton and Frisco, Texas, UNT serves nearly 44,000 students with 230 degree programmes. It awarded more than 13,000 degrees last year.

(Vikas and Anuradha image credit: https://news.unt.edu/)