A major philanthropic contribution from an Indian-origin couple is set to reshape artificial intelligence education at the University of North Texas (UNT). Vikas and Anuradha Sinha have committed $20 million to the university, with the institution planning to name its new College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics in their honor.
The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics is being designed as a multidisciplinary center where students and researchers can explore artificial intelligence, intelligent technologies, and data-driven decision-making. The initiative will also emphasize the responsible development and application of emerging technologies.
The donation will establish six permanent endowments dedicated to areas including academic leadership, student scholarships, faculty professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research, and emerging technologies. The college will bring together programs covering artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, health informatics, information science, library science, advanced analytics, and learning technologies.
Rather than keeping these fields separate, UNT plans to encourage collaboration between departments through shared facilities, research initiatives, and partnerships with businesses and technology organizations. The college will feature two academic divisions. One will concentrate on developing and implementing intelligent systems, while the other will examine how information and AI technologies influence people, organizations, and institutions.
UNT will also launch the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute to coordinate research and educational efforts across the university. The institute is expected to support interdisciplinary projects, attract outside funding, expand shared research resources, and strengthen connections with industry.
For the Sinhas, the contribution has a deeply personal dimension. Both moved to the United States from India after earning civil engineering degrees from Sri Venkateswara University. They later pursued graduate education at Florida Atlantic University. Vikas Sinha continued his studies at Northwestern University before earning a PhD in information science from UNT in 2023.
Sinha currently serves as vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom and has been part of UNT’s College of Information Leadership Board since 2023. The couple has previously supported the university, including establishing a data science department in 2024 and funding the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science in 2025.
The latest gift reflects their belief in expanding educational opportunities for future generations, particularly for students who want to shape the future of AI.
