Indian-origin couple Anuradha and Vikas Sinha have contributed $20 million to the University of North Texas to establish a new College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, aimed at expanding education and research in these fields. The university has announced that the institution will be named the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics in recognition of the couple’s contribution.
The new college is expected to become a major centre for academics and research, bringing together programmes and projects focused on artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, health informatics, information science and learning technologies. The donation will also fund six permanent endowments covering scholarships, professorships, college leadership, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies.
Vikas Sinha, who completed his doctorate in information science at UNT in 2023, said universities have an important responsibility to prepare students for a future increasingly influenced by AI.
“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, as quoted by FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth.
He said their own experiences as immigrants and students in the United States also influenced the decision to make the donation.
“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.”
A DECADE OF SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION
The latest contribution follows years of support from the couple for the University of North Texas’s data science initiatives. In 2024, they helped create the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science. A year later, in 2025, they made another significant contribution that led to the establishment of the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.
The couple came to the US after earning bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University in India. They subsequently completed graduate studies at Florida Atlantic University. Vikas Sinha later studied at Northwestern University before earning his doctorate from UNT.
He currently serves as vice president of Broadcom’s Mainframe Software Division and has been a member of the UNT College of Information Leadership Board since 2023.
“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” Sinha said.
NEW COLLEGE TO DRIVE RESEARCH
According to FOX 4 News, the new college will be organised into two academic divisions. The first will concentrate on creating and implementing intelligent systems, while the second will study the role of information and intelligent systems in human and institutional environments.
UNT will additionally launch the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute. The institute will bring together teaching and research from different disciplines while promoting collaborations with industry and attracting external funding.
UNT President Harrison Keller said the new college aligns with the university’s broader efforts to respond to fast-moving developments in technology, employment and research. A campus event to celebrate the naming of the college is expected to take place later this year.
Established in 1890 as the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute by Joshua C. Chilton, the University of North Texas has grown from a small private institution located above a hardware store in downtown Denton into one of the largest public research universities in the United States.
