Anuradha and Vikas Sinha, an Indian-origin engineer couple, have committed to donate USD 20 million to University of North Texas to build an artificial intelligence and advanced analytics college at the University. The name of the college will be Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics which will be established to create new opportunities for students and teachers. It will serve as an academic and research hub for AI and data analytics.
Underscoring the contribution by immigrants to build the “American Dream”, Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of AI and Advanced Analytics will bring AI, cybersecurity, data science, advanced analytics, health informatics, information science, library science and learning technologies under one roof. The contribution will create 6 permanent endowments including supporting college leadership, student scholarships, endowed professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies.
Earlier in 2024, the couple funded the establishment of Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science along with endowments for scholarships, research and faculty. Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science was later established in 2025.
Sinha completed his PhD in 2023 from UNT after pursuing higher education in the US. He is currently the vice president of Broadcom’s Mainframe Software Division. The couple has graduated from Florida Atlantic University after studying civil engineering in India. Vikas Sinha also studied at Northwestern University and completed his doctorate at UNT.
20 Million USD To Support Students and Researchers
Vikas Sinha mentioned the growing importance of Artificial Intelligence in every sphere of life and emphasized on the role of universities in preparing students for it. He also said that the couple chose University of North Texas because of the university’s approach towards inclusion of AI tools. According to him, the contribution and establishment of the college is intended to help international students who arrive in the US. He said, “ 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”.
“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” Sinha said.
The two new academic divisions of the college will focus on creating and deploying intelligence systems and analyse the interaction between information, intelligence and people. Vikas Sinha said, “Artificial intelligence will be one of the defining technologies of our generation.” and that his aim is to prepare students to “build it, understand it, question it, govern it and apply it responsibly”.
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. The new initiative and college will support the UNT 2030 strategy to adapt to the rapid changes that AI is bringing to workplace and research and strengthen interdisciplinary research and prepare students for this rapid change and expanding innovation in Texas.
