A University on the RISE

The University of Texas at Arlington is investing in its faculty and its future with the recently launched Recruiting Innovative Scholars for Excellence initiative, or RISE 100.

“To create the impact we want on the state of Texas, our nation, and beyond, we must expand our faculty and recruit innovative scholars who push the boundaries of discovery,” said Jennifer Cowley, president of UTA. “UTA faculty are unafraid to take on the biggest challenges of our time.”

RISE 100 represents a substantial investment in the future of UTA: a $60 million effort, funded in part through the support of the University of Texas System’s Regents Research Excellence program. Through this initiative, the University seeks to hire more than 100 new tenure-system faculty over the next three years, growing the size of the faculty significantly. Hiring at this scale often takes up to 15 years; UTA seeks to achieve its faculty hiring goals by 2026.

“Our excellence as a national research university is defined by the success of our faculty and their contributions to our mission,” Dr. Cowley said. “In every corner of this campus, you will find researchers and scientists brimming with ambition, ingenuity, and promise.”

UTA’s aim is to hire scholars with expertise in areas that will make an impact in Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, supporting the growth and development of the region’s economy, society, and culture. Areas of immediate focus in the first phase of RISE 100 include community-engaged research, semiconductor technology, and brain health.

The University already has commenced with approximately 35 tenure-system faculty searches. The positions selected are from areas of critical need, align with college and University priorities, and include limited opportunities for Target of Excellence Scholars, who possess the highest levels of academic accomplishment.

New faculty will find a campus that serves as a laboratory for innovation, where new knowledge converges with diverse industries and cultures. Through business incubator programs and research collaborations, UTA supports startups and established companies in sectors such as aerospace, health care, and manufacturing, fueling economic growth, creating jobs, and enhancing community vitality.

“We have true and distinguished faculty excellence at UT Arlington,” said Tamara L. Brown, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “RISE 100 will yield ever-greater results by pushing the boundaries of knowledge and advancing our culture of innovation and discovery.”

Future hires will fill roles across the University, with a specific emphasis on faculty positions in UTA’s renowned College of Engineering, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, and College of Science. They will find a University armed with the organizational capability to support their growth and success.

“We are investing in state-of-the-art research infrastructure to enhance innovation and commercialization while also enhancing support for proposal development and partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies; industry; and foundations,” said Kate C. Miller, vice president for research and innovation. “These critical steps will increase the visibility of our interdisciplinary research and improve our grant success rates and research expenditures—all with the goal of advancing scholarship and discovery for the benefit of Texas.”

UTA has more than 5,000 faculty and staff and about 41,000 students and is located in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is both a Hispanic-Serving and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, standing as a beacon of community impact with deep roots in North Texas. In recent years, UTA has set its sights on monumental impact through research, achieving and maintaining the R-1: Doctoral University–Very High Research Activity designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

As one of the nation’s most ethnically and culturally diverse universities, UTA has reimagined what an elite research university can look like when it remains committed to opportunity, academic excellence, and groundbreaking discovery. Faculty new to UTA will have the opportunity to inspire and mentor the next generation of research leaders in an environment dedicated to the expansion of undergraduate research experiences, financial aid for top-tier doctoral students, and support and incentives for external graduate fellowships.

“Our distinctly Maverick approach is what makes us a national treasure,” Cowley said. “Hand in hand with our academic rigor is our unwavering commitment to opportunities for students from all backgrounds. We can boast of being one of the nation’s most diverse undergraduate student populations, in one of the most diverse cities in Texas. UTA looks like Texas, and we are proud to be a leader.”