University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1883 and is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,864 students as of fall 2024, it is the largest school in the system.

The university is known for its strong research programs, spending about $1.06 billion on research in the 2023 fiscal year. It became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1929. UT Austin has many places for learning and exploration, including seven museums and seventeen libraries. Two famous ones are the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and the Blanton Museum of Art. It also runs special research sites like the J. J. Pickle Research Campus and McDonald Observatory.

UT Austin’s sports teams are called the Texas Longhorns. They have won many national championships in football, baseball, and swimming. The school’s students and teachers have achieved great honors, including 13 Nobel Prize winners, 25 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many others. They have also won a total of 155 Olympic medals as of 2021.

History

Main article: History of the University of Texas at Austin

The idea of having a public university in Texas was first talked about in 1827. After Texas became independent, plans were made to create a university. In 1858, money was set aside for the university, but the Civil War delayed things. Finally, in 1876, Texas’ constitution said the university must be built.

The University of Texas opened its doors on September 15, 1883, after Austin was chosen as its home. The first building, called the Main Building, was big and tall and stood in the middle of the campus. Over the years, the university grew a lot. New buildings were added, and the campus got bigger. During World War II, the university helped train students for the Navy.

In 1965, the university’s name was changed to “The University of Texas at Austin” to show it was part of a bigger system of universities. In recent years, many new buildings have been built, and the university has kept growing. It has also faced important moments, like protests and changes in how students learn during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Campus

See also: List of University of Texas Austin buildings

The University of Texas at Austin has a big campus that covers 1,438.5 acres. Most of it is in central Austin, with more buildings and research areas in the north. The main building has a tall tower that lights up at night. The university has many museums and libraries with millions of books and special items, like a very old Bible and the first photograph ever taken.

The campus has secret tunnels that connect buildings for utilities but are not open to visitors. The university makes its own electricity and even has its own small nuclear reactor for research. Over the years, UT Austin has added many new buildings for science, computers, and student activities. Students can listen to public radio stations run by the university and ride free buses around campus with their student ID.

Organization and administration

The University of Texas at Austin has nineteen colleges and schools, plus one academic unit. These include well-known schools such as the Cockrell School of Engineering, Dell Medical School, and the McCombs School of Business. Many of these schools were founded many years ago, with some starting as early as 1883.

Academics

The University of Texas at Austin offers over 100 different degrees for students to choose from. In one year, they gave out more than 13,000 degrees, including bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

The university has special honors programs for talented students and offers chances for students to do research right from their first year. For students wanting to join, the university used to encourage but did not require test scores. Now, starting in 2025, all applicants must send their test scores. The university is very selective, taking only about 29% of applicants. Students who get in usually have very good scores and were near the top of their high school class.

The university is well-known around the world. It is often listed among the best schools in the United States and globally. Many of its programs, like those in accounting and engineering, are ranked among the best in the country.

Research

UT Austin is known for its strong research, especially in engineering and computer science. In 2014–2015, the university received over $580 million for research projects and has created many new inventions since 2003.

The university has special centers for studying energy, medicine, and more. It also operates telescopes and labs for scientific discovery. In 2023, UT Austin and Amazon started a new science hub to support research and learning.

Student life

The University of Texas at Austin has many students and places to live. In fall 2024, there were 53,864 students, including 43,165 undergraduates and 10,699 postgraduate students. Some students live in university housing, while others live in private housing or with groups called Greek organizations.

Students can join many different groups and activities. There are over 65 Greek organizations, which are groups of students who share common interests. Students also have many ways to share their ideas, like through newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. The university has special traditions, such as singing the fight song and making a hand gesture at sports events.

Athletics

Main article: Texas Longhorns

The University of Texas has many sports teams for men and women, called the Longhorns. These teams have won 50 national championships, with 42 of them coming from the NCAA.

The football team had great success under coach Darrell Royal, winning three national titles in 1963, 1969, and 1970. Later, under coach Mack Brown, the team won another title in 2005.

The baseball team has gone to the College World Series more times than any other school and has won championships several times.

The men's basketball team has reached the NCAA Final Four three times and won many conference titles.

The swimming and diving teams have also achieved many NCAA titles, especially the men's team.

In 2020, student athletes shared ideas for changes on Twitter. The university agreed to make several of these changes, such as renaming buildings and adding new statues to honor important people in the school's history. However, the idea to change the school's traditional song was not implemented.

Further information: Horns Illustrated

Notable people

Faculty

Main article: List of University of Texas at Austin faculty

In the fall of 2016, the school employed 3,128 full-time faculty members, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 18.86 to 1. These include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award, the Primetime Emmy Award, and other various awards. Nine Nobel Laureates are or have been affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. Research expenditures for the university exceeded $679.8 million in fiscal year 2018.

Alumni

Main article: List of University of Texas at Austin alumni

Texas Exes is the official University of Texas alumni organization. The Alcalde, founded in 1913, is the university's alumni magazine.

Alumni in government

At least 15 graduates have served in the US Senate or US House of Representatives, including Lloyd Bentsen, who served in both Houses. Presidential cabinet members include former US secretaries of state Rex Tillerson and James Baker, former US Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, and former US Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. Former First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna both graduated from Texas, as well as former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson and her eldest daughter Lynda.

In foreign governments, the university has been represented by Fernando Belaúnde Terry (42nd president of Peru) and by Abdullah al-Tariki (co-founder of OPEC). The prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, graduated from the university with a PhD in economics. Tom C. Clark served as United States attorney general from 1945 to 1949 and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967.

Alumni in academia

Alumni in academia include the Nobel Prize-winning immunologist James P. Allison, and the Nobel Prize-winning hematologist E. Donnall Thomas. Additional alumni include 26th president of The College of William & Mary Gene Nichol, the 10th president of Boston University Robert A. Brown, and the 8th president of the University of Southern California John R. Hubbard. The university also graduated Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the Moon.

Alumni in business

Alumni who have served as business leaders include former Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil Corporation CEO Rex Tillerson, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, Morton Meyerson (namesake of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center) and Gary C. Kelly, a former Southwest Airlines CEO.

Alumni in literature and journalism

In literature and journalism, the school boasts over 25 Pulitzer Prizes credited to alumni and faculty members, including Gail Caldwell and Ben Sargent. Walter Cronkite, the former CBS Evening News anchor, attended the University of Texas at Austin, as did CNN anchor Betty Nguyen. Alumnus J. M. Coetzee also received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. Novelist Raymond Benson was the official author of James Bond novels between 1996 and 2002, the only American to be commissioned to pen them. Donna Alvermann, a distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, department of education also graduated from the University of Texas, as did Wallace Clift and Jean Dalby Clift, authors of several books in the fields of psychology of religion and spiritual growth. Notable alumni authors also include Kovid Gupta, author of several bestselling books, Ruth Cowan Nash, America's first female war correspondent, and Alireza Jafarzadeh, author of The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis and television commentator. Although expelled from the university, former student and The Daily Texan writer John Patric went on to become a noted writer for National Geographic, Reader's Digest, and author of 1940s best-seller Why Japan was Strong.

Alumni with Fulbright Scholarships

University of Texas at Austin alumni include 112 Fulbright Scholars, 31 Rhodes Scholars, 28 Truman Scholars, 23 Marshall Scholars, and 9 astronauts.

Alumni in music and entertainment

Several musicians and entertainers attended the university. Janis Joplin, the American singer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, attended the university, as did February 1955 Playboy Playmate of the Month and Golden Globe recipient Jayne Mansfield. Composer Harold Morris is a 1910 graduate. Noted film director, cinematographer, writer, and editor Robert Rodriguez is a Longhorn, as are actors Eli Wallach and Matthew McConaughey, the latter of whom now teaches a class at the university. Founding members of psychedelic rock band The Bright Light Social Hour Jackie O'Brien and Curtis Roush both received master's degrees from the university in 2009 while completing their debut self-titled album.

Kendall Ross Bean completed his Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance. As a master piano rebuilder and concert pianist, Bean first performed on a piano he rebuilt on the A&E Network in 1985. The video was titled "Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat".

Robert Rodriguez dropped out of the university after two years to pursue his career in Hollywood, but completed his degree from the Radio-Television-Film department on May 23, 2009. Rodriguez also gave the keynote address at the university-wide commencement ceremony. Radio-Television-Film alumni Mark Dennis and Ben Foster took their award-winning feature film, Strings, to the American film festival circuit in 2011. Web and television actress Felicia Day and film actress Renée Zellweger attended the university. Day graduated with degrees in music performance (violin) and mathematics, while Zellweger graduated with a BA in English. Writer and recording artist Phillip Sandifer graduated with a degree in history. Michael "Burnie" Burns is an actor, writer, film director and film producer who graduated with a degree in computer science. He, along with graduate Matt Hullum, also founded the Austin-based production company Rooster Teeth, that produces many hit shows, including the award-winning Internet series, Red vs. Blue. Farrah Fawcett, one of the original Charlie's Angels, left after her junior year to pursue a modeling career. Actor Owen Wilson and writer/director Wes Anderson attended the university, where they wrote Bottle Rocket together, which became Anderson's first feature film. Writer and producer Charles Olivier is a Longhorn. So are filmmakers and actors Mark Duplass and his brother Jay Duplass, key contributors to the mumblecore film genre. Another notable writer, Rob Thomas graduated with a BA in history in 1987 and later wrote the young adult novel Rats Saw God and created the series Veronica Mars. Illustrator, writer and alum Felicia Bond is best known for her illustrations in the If You Give... children's books series, starting with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actress Cindy Yen (birth name Cindy Wu) graduated with double degrees in music (piano performance) and broadcast journalism in 2008. Noted composer and arranger Jack Cooper received his D.M.A. in 1999 from the University of Texas at Austin in composition and has gone on to teach in higher education and become known internationally through the music publishing industry. Actor Trevante Rhodes competed as a sprinter for the Longhorns and graduated with a BS in Applied Learning and Development in 2012. In 2016, he starred as Chiron in the Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning film Moonlight.

Alumni in sports

Many alumni have found success in professional sports. Legendary pro football coach Tom Landry attended the university as an industrial engineering major but interrupted his education after a semester to serve in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, he returned to the university and played fullback and defensive back on the Longhorns' bowl-game winners on New Year's Day of 1948 and 1949. Seven-time Cy Young Award-winner Roger Clemens entered the MLB after helping the Longhorns win the 1983 College World Series. NBA MVP and four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant entered the 2007 NBA draft and was selected second overall behind Greg Oden, after sweeping National Player of the Year honors, becoming the first freshman to win any of the awards. After becoming the first freshman in school history to lead Texas in scoring and being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Daniel Gibson entered the 2006 NBA draft and was selected in the second round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his one year at Texas, golfer Jordan Spieth led the University of Texas Golf club to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in 2012 and went on to win The Masters Tournament three years after leaving the university. Several Olympic medalists have also attended the school, including 2008 Summer Olympics athletes Ian Crocker (swimming world record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist) and 4 × 400 m relay defending Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards. Mary Lou Retton (the first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, five-time Olympic medalist, and 1984 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year) also attended the university. Garrett Weber-Gale, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in two events, was a swimmer for the school. Also an alumnus is Robert Cade, the inventor of the sports drink Gatorade. In big, global philanthropy, the university is honored by Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation. 2022 and 2024 Masters Tournament champion, Scottie Scheffler, attended the university, where he was an All-American Golfer for the Longhorns. In the 2025 NBA Draft, freshman, Tre Johnson was drafted sixth overall to the Washington Wizards, during his time with the Texas Longhorns, Johnson was the SEC Rookie of the Year, he was also a member of the All-SEC, and SEC All-Freshman.

Other notable alumni

Other notable alumni include prominent businessman Red McCombs, Diane Pamela Wood, the first female chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, chemist Donna J. Nelson, and neuroscientist Tara Spires-Jones. Also an alumnus is Admiral William H. McRaven, credited for organizing and executing Operation Neptune's Spear, the special ops raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman to earn the rank of a colonel in the United States Army, first commanding officer and director of the Women's Army Corps, first secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare attended the university as well. Amit Kshatriya was named associate administrator of NASA in 2025. Erika Thompson is a well-known beekeeper.

• Notable alumni of UT Austin

• Greg Abbott, governor of Texas

• James P. Allison, Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

• Wes Anderson, Academy Award-winning director

• James Baker, former White House chief of staff and secretary of state

• Lloyd Bentsen, secretary of the treasury

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  Tom C. Clark, attorney general and associate justice of the Supreme Court

• J. M. Coetzee, novelist and Nobel laureate

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  Kevin Durant, 14-time NBA All-Star

• Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award-winning actor

• Scottie Scheffler, professional golfer

• Jordan Spieth, professional golfer

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  E. Donnall Thomas, Nobel Prize-winning hematologist

• Rex Tillerson, secretary of state

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  Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist

• Owen Wilson, actor