[Dr. Calvin D. Jamison] Good morning! [Audience] Good morning!
[Dr. Calvin D. Jamison] Thank you.
My name is Calvin Jamison
and I'm the Vice President for Facilities & Economic Development
at THE University of Texas at Dallas,
which happens to be in Richardson and Dallas.
I welcome you to this groundbreaking
of the third addition to the School of Management.
It's something that I know Dean Pirkul has been looking forward to for quite some time.
It's my honor to welcome you as we break ground
and begin the construction process for yet another new facility.
-- Regent Crain, it seems like you were just here last week --
which will support continued growth,
particularly in the School of Management.
Over the last three months we have broken ground on three new buildings,
and cut the ribbon on a 4th,
all totaling over 650,000 sq.ft. and over $500M.
Those include a new Esports Center,
a new Student Success Center and Student Union,
the dedication of the Athenaeum -- The Crow Museum of Asian Art --
and the groundbreaking of our new Performance Hall
-- all in that period of time. Now we're here.
You see, the UT Dallas Economic Engine is in full throttle.
-- and speaking of full throttle, work continues on the completion of the Silver Line
just to the north of campus along with the UT Dallas station.
Now, in this building 10 years ago -- indeed, it's hard to believe --
we opened Phase Two, a 108,000 sq.ft. addition to JSOM,
providing much needed space for the continued growth of this campus.
You'll hear more about the content of this
when the Dean talks and Dr. Benson speaks about what it's going to cover,
but it adds greatly to what's been a transformative effort
to the School of Management.
This building, along with the School of Engineering,
are continuing to compete
for who can enroll in most students, in the most time, for the most impact.
Friendly competition is always good.
In this building, also, you will find an additional Starbucks.
We have another one on campus,
but knowing the School of Management, that one will particularly be of great use.
The space is greatly needed, as I mentioned earlier,
because of their student body that continues to grow.
Under the leadership of Dean Pirkul,
This facility will provide a new home for new Executive Education,
unique in this building, that you will notice,
in the center that you see --and the continued growth of the school.
I would like to begin today's celebration
with the introduction of our stage party,
as well as some special guests.
On stage, I amd joined by the UT Dallas President, Dr. Richard C. Benson,
UT System Regent, Christina Melton Crain
-- who also needs an office here; I see her so often --
The Naveen Jindal School of Management Dean, Dr. Hasan Pirkul,
and UT Dallas Student Government Vice President, Debopreeta Bhattacharya.
Let's give them all a round of applause.
[audience applause]
I'd like to recognize some special guests in the room.
Our UT Dallas Vice President and Chief of Staff, Dr. Rafael Martín,
Vice President for Communications, John Walls,
Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, Dr. Kyle Edgington,
Vice President for Government and Community Relations, Amanda Rockow
-- Thank you for being here --
Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Gene Fitch,
and I think I saw Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, who is our Vice President for Research here.
Our Economic Development Advisory Committee; If you're here, raise your hands.
Thank you so much for being here.
Our architects, Perkins & Wills; Raise your hands
-- anything you do not like about this building --
[audience laughter]
Raise your hands again. [more audience laughter]
We can make sure we got... [drowned out by laughter]
The general contractor, Whiting-Turner; Raise your hands
-- OK, if it's not built correctly -- but they're designing it overall.
Our Facilities Management team,
under the leadership of our Associate VP Jeremy Head,
and led by Project Control, is the manager of this group.
If you're in the Facilities Management group or you are in Project Control, raise your hand.
These are the people to thank at the end of the day
for staying on top of the architects and the contractor
to make sure that we get this done.
In addition, some members of the business community have joined us today:
Mr. Myron Watkins here,
Mr. Cris Plumley is here,
Mr. Clarence McAlister.
Thank you guys for being a part of this process this morning.
I want to thank all of you for being here
and for being a part of something uniquely different.
-- and I'll say that now before the Dean gets here --
because he has a lot to say, in terms of messaging
of what we're trying to accomplish with this particular building.
It will be the anchor of these two buildings that we've put together.
It promises to be an iconic building,
something that the entire University could be extremely proud of
in terms of what we do overall.
So as part of that, we want to make sure that everybody gets the tone, the tenor, and the excitement
that's so much a part of what we've been doing over the last several months and many years.
It now gives me great pleasure to welcome to the podium Dr. Richard C. Benson,
for yet another groundbreaking and/or ribbon-cutting during his tenure
-- and he's done an enormous amount in the last eight years since he's been here.
Dr. Benson, thank you so much, and I hope you will continue to enjoy this
as you make the transition,
and get another opportunity to put your seal
on the continued growth of The University of Texas Dallas.
Dr. Benson.
[audience applause]
[Dr. Richard C. Benson] Thank you, Calvin.
Going immediately off script...
Like Calvin, I've learned to measure progress by disappearing parking lots and Starbucks showing up.
Did I hear we have two Starbucks? [audience laughter]
OK, that's progress.
So again, thank you and good morning, everyone.
Today we officially break ground for the third edition
to the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
On behalf of The University of Texas at Dallas,
I am happy to welcome each of you.
Let me also extend a special welcome to Regent Christina Melton Crain,
who you will hear from shortly.
We're also honored to have someone with us
who's made a tremendous impact in the Jindal School of UT Dallas,
Chuck Davidson. Chuck and Nancy -- and actually they're both here --
were named Jindal School of Management Distinguished Alumni in 2002
[audience applause]
and they received the UT Dallas Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.
Chuck and Nancy's generosity extends to a major gift
for the construction of the original JSOM building
and they established four endowed research positions in the school
as well as supported the Davidson Management Honors Program.
I fondy recall the 2016 opening of the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center
-- it was pretty much my first groundbreaking.
That beautiful centerpiece to our campus was made possible by Chuck and Nancy's desire
to provide a place for all Comets to have a home when they return to campus.
Also joining us are several other accomplished graduates of the Jindal School
who have received UT Dallas' Distinguished Alumni Award.
I've got three to recognize:
A.K. (Ashok Kumar) Mago received the award in 2016.
He has been a great friend to UT Dallas,
especially through his work with the US-India Chamber of Commerce.
Ron Nash, for his leadership to UT Dallas and the broader community.
Ron received the award in 2011.
He is an avid supporter of UTD
and currently serves as co-chair of the University's New Dimensions campaign.
So thank you, Ron.
[audience applause]
-- and Kevin Ryan received the award in 2014.
Now retired after a career with Merit Energy Company,
Kevin continues to support UT Dallas as a member of the Executive Board.
So, thank you.
[audience applause]
So if you've been around UTD for a while,
you know that our campus has gone through some significant changes
over the last few years.
Construction cranes and earth-moving vehicles are our constant companions.
In fact, some students say that we should make the crane our mascot,
and following our tradition of reversing names, it would be known as ENARC ... you know, TEMOC.
So regardless of the presence of cranes, they're a sure sign that UT Dallas is moving forward
into the best and newest version of itself.
Our ongoing transformation has been propelled by our 57% increase in enrollment since 2013.
With our student body numbers hovering around 30,000,
I am confident in saying that what takes place on our campus
will continue to impact our state and nation.
Evidently, others agree with me,
as attested by our rise in the rankings.
UTD remains the 3rd best public university in Texas
-- keep that in mind if someone asks --
and is ranked #52 in the nation
by the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings
-- and by the way, that's up to 20 places in a 2-year stretch, from 72nd to 52nd --
and the Naveen Jindal School of Management
consistently ranks among the top 50 public university business schools in the nation.
Since its founding in 1975, it has become a national and international leader
in research and education.
With such strong programs and excellent facilities,
we are attracting some of the best and brightest students
from across the country and around the world.
The Jindal School, and the Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science
are two largest schools by enrollment.
-- our anchor stores, if you will --
and more than 10,000 students take classes in the Jindal School.
That's a lot of students needing places to study and to engage,
and it's one reason why the Jindal School is as busy at night as it is during the day.
Students in the Jindal School can take part in internships and scholarship opportunities
as well as focus clubs and organizations.
The school also operates its own honors program and Career Management Center.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Jindal School
for bright students and dedicated staff and faculty.
So $98M has been allocated for construction of a three-story 125,000 sq.ft. addition.
It will provide much-needed classrooms, meeting rooms, study areas, and faculty offices.
The Honors program in the Jindal School, including the Davidson Management Honors Program,
will have new offices,
as well as the Executive Education program, and the new Communications program.
The other speakers on the agenda today
will tell you in greater detail
how this new addition will impact our mission at UT Dallas.
I have long claimed that UTD can be one of the world's great universities,
and we are especially strong in STEMM
-- and by the way, we've always had two M's in our STEMM:
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math & Management. You knew that --
So we know that we can compete with anyone
when it comes to generating impact through research and education.
So with deep gratitude,
I acknowledge the role of the Texas Legislature
and the UT System Board of Regents
for their vital contributions
to the growth of UT Dallas and the Jindal School of Management.
We are fortunate to be part of the great University of Texas System
and to be guided by the leadership of the System's Board of Regents.
And no regent has been more impactful than our neighbor and friend, Christina Melton Crain.
So please join me in welcoming Regent Crain to the podium. Thank you.
[audience applause]
[Regent Christina Melton Crain] Good morning. [Audience] Good morning.
[Regent Christina Melton Crain] It is my pleasure to be here
on behalf of The University of Texas System Board of Regents,
and I'm delighted to help mark this really special occasion.
Going off script a minute, I will say that,
we have 14 institutions, including several health institutions, in the system.
There is no one institution that has progressed as quickly and deliberately
as UTD has in the last couple of years.
Literally, we have had a dedication, a dirt turning, a confirmation,
-- whatever word you want to use --
almost every week for the last couple of months,
and it's been my pleasure to be a part of this
and to see the leadership come together.
Thank you, Dr. Benson. Thank you, Calvin. [audience applause]
So as you've heard,
UT Dallas has experienced amazing and significant growth and changes over the last decade.
And the UT System Board of Regents is completely dedicated
to meeting the needs of this young university that is experiencing such electric growth.
New institutional spaces are essential to fueling the innovations that take place
when faculty and students can explore ideas.
and with the completion of this new addition,
generations of students will have a robust and productive experience
in the Jindal School of Management and all that it offers.
The Jindal School has more than 10,000 students and more than 57,000 alumni worldwide
who are terrific ambassadors for their school and UT Dallas.
You have examples of the stellar alumni in the school's namesake, Naveen Jindal,
as well as Chuck and Nancy Davidson, A.K. Mago, Ron Nash, and Kevin Ryan.
Without a doubt, UT Dallas continues to be an important part of the educational landscape
that extends beyond our state
-- and especially here in North Texas --
with the amazing growth that we're having, what happens on this campus is making a real difference.
I join with the rest of my colleagues at the UT System
in expressing excitement for the future of this great university,
and I want to say, having this in my backyard is not lost.
I love having the experience of weekly discovering a new addition to this campus,
whether it's the Athenaeum, whether it's cricket being brought to the campus
that's going to be viewed by billions of people across the world,
as well as today's dedication.
It is really hard to imagine, as someone who grew up in the Dallas area,
watching UT Dallas grow, with only a couple of buildings and a field,
to now what it is today. Truly amazing.
I now wish to welcome to the podium -- and it is my great honor to welcome --
the Dean of the Jindal School of Management, Dr. Hasan Pirkul.
[audience applause]
[Dr. Hasan Pirkul] Thank you, Regent Crain.
On behalf of the members of the Jindal School family,
I welcome everyone to our school.
We appreciate you being here to join in our celebration.
Before I start my remarks, I want to thank the UT System Regents.
Thank you Regent Crain, our President, Dr. Benson,
our Provost, Dr. Musselman,
our VP of Facilities & Economic Development, Dr. Jamison,
other members of the cabinet, our donors, Advisory Council members,
alumni, friends, students, faculty and staff.
I also want to thank our architects,
that have been keeping up with me for, now, almost a year,
and I want to wish good luck to the builders
who are going to put up with me in the next year... [drowned out by laughter]
Thank you for being here.
I've had the honor of being the Dean of Jindal School of Management
for the past 29 years.
During this period, we have seen
more than a five-fold increase in our enrollments.
Along the way, we have built a school that is widely recognized
as one of the leading public business schools in the nation.
This new building is essential not only to accommodate the growth
-- by the way, the growth continues,
this year we took a step back, but next year we'll make up for it --
not only to accommodate the growth,
but also to facilitate continued innovation and improvement in our academic programs.
When we opened our original building in 2003, our enrollment stood at 4,200.
When we broke ground on our second building, in 2013, our enrollment was nearly at 6,900
-- an increase of about 62%.
By the time it was dedicated in the fall of 2015, enrollment stood at nearly 8,000.
By the fall of 2022, we were bursting at the seams with more than 11,000 students.
—- that's another increase of another 60%.
So, it looks like every 10 years, we are building a building.
I was thinking about it.
I don't think I can build the 4th one, but... [drowned out by laughter]
Our existing buildings house 51 classrooms, 5 computer labs, a dining hall, a 350-seat auditorium.
These buildings are home to nearly 11,000 students, 270 full-time faculty, 130 adjunct faculty,
235 staff, and 125 PhD students.
Believe me, we cannot wait to occupy our new building.
During the last two years, we have been truly struggling
to find offices for our new faculty and staff.
As we break ground for our third building,
I'm reminded that each new building led to significant improvements
in the quality of education and the student experience.
This new building will be no different.
It will house our undergraduate programs
-- all of our undergraduate programs will be in this building --
and provide our students a home and a sense of belonging.
The new AI lab, the virtual reality lab, will provide much needed tools
to study and teach the impact of new technologies on business innovation and practice.
Informal spaces, both inside and outside the building, will provide an environment
for students, faculty, and staff to socialize and collaborate.
We have too many exciting features of this building for me to list here,
but I must say, the one thing that I get compliments for
-- mostly from faculty, but also students --
is the Starbucks, so... [drowned out by laughter]
I, personally am really excited about the courtyard we are building.
I think the best part of this building is going to be the large courtyard
that will have water features and ample seating for our students and our staff,
in fact, we'll be able to enjoy outside living.
So, you know, minus July and August, I think we should be able to enjoy it.
So, thank you, everyone. We appreciate you being here.
It's now my pleasure to invite to the podium
Vice President of Student Government, Debopreeta Bhattacharya.
[audience applause]
[Debopreeta Bhattacharya] Thank you, Dean Pirkul.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Debopreeta Bhattacharya,
and I'm the Vice President of the UT Dallas Student Government.
It is an honor to be here today to celebrate the growth of the University
and speak on behalf of the Student Government Senate and the student body.
UT Dallas has changed considerably since I started as a freshman in the fall of 2021.
we have seen substantial growth and improvement
in our student population, various departments, student organizations, and more.
It's been such a privilege to see and be a part of all the changes happening
and the legacy we get to leave for future Comets.
Although I am a sociology major, I am minoring in healthcare management,
so I have gotten to experience the numerous resources
the School of Management has to offer.
I've had great professors help me through rigorous courses,
used their Career Center to help craft my resume,
and downed a latte or two from Tradecraft Coffee.
Even though I have gotten lost in the JSOM buildings multiple times,
I've also found a great network and career options, and so have many other students at UTD.
Having the largest student population, the School of Management has flourished,
ranking 38th in the entire nation for business schools.
This school has become a symbol of success for UTD,
and that will only carry on with the third phase of the School of Management
-- along with giving ECS some competition for pretty good buildings as well.
I look forward to seeing JSOM III contribute to the continuous advancement
of the School of Management and UTD as a whole.
And with that, I'll hand it back over to Dr. Jamison.
[audience applause]
[Dr. Calvin D. Jamison] Thank you very much.
I thank all of you for being here this morning.
I want to particularly recognize the persons who really made this happen overall,
the team of people organizing this.
You see them in the green shirts led by Dee Lambert. Raise your hand.
Dee is my Chief of staff and... [drowned out by applause]
... we believe that that's the way you do things overall.
We want you to remember several things as we begin
to break up and go into our respective groundbreakings.
First of all, we're going to do a number of groundbreakings,
as we go through it, turning the shovel, and acknowledging different advisory groups,
in terms of what we'll do, we will turn the shovels as many times as we can take a picture if need be,
if you want to get involved in a picture.
So all the advisory committee members that are here will be a part of these.
Dee will make sure you get included.
But we want to leave you with something very, very important,
and that is simply this:
at UT Dallas, we have things really, really, unique --as you've experienced.
Only last week we had
-- Dr. Benson didn't talk a lot about this, but--
he actually was putting in the "A" in "STEMM", making it "STEAMM".
So we have a whole new Arts District behind this building.
In addition to that, led by Gene Fitch back there, we have a huge esports program.
We're the two-time national champions there.
In addition, we've been to the Final Four of chess for 19 years.
Most recently we did a pop-up cricket tournament with the National Cricket League,
and they're going to be playing cricket the rest of the week at night,
all the way 'till next Monday, with people from all over the world,
as mentioned before by Regent Crain.
So when you think about UT Dallas,
-- first of all, when you think about Friday Night Lights, when you think about it in Texas, it's football --
when you think about Friday Night Lights in UT Dallas, it's cricket.
When you think about UT Dallas overall, it's where the arts, esports, chess, and cricket are normalized.
Only at UT Dallas. Only this unique experience.
Only right here, in this kind of environment, where the energy is strobing.
It's cool, and it's classic, and it's making a difference.
So, with that in mind, we're going to move forward, with the stage party,
follow us out to the right.
We're going to take several photos.
We ask then that the advisory group join us,
Nancy and Chuck, you guys join us as well. Ron and A.K. as well.
and then my colleagues from the University.
We're going to take several different pictures, and we're going to make sure that we capture this moment.
Thank you so much.
And that officially concludes the formal program, after which, there's a reception area outside,
there are tables, and we want you to enjoy your time while you're here and get to know your colleagues.
All right. Everything's good? We're good?
We're official adjourned.
[crowd noises]