Education
Indian-Origin Couple Vikas and Anuradha Sinha Gift $20 Million to Establish AI College at University of North Texas
Vikas and Anuradha Sinha, an Indian-origin couple, have donated $20 million to the University of North Texas (UNT) to establish a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Vikas earned his PhD from UNT, and the couple's latest gift will create the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, along with six permanent endowments supporting college leadership, scholarships, professorships, entrepreneurship, research and emerging technologies.
The couple said the donation reflects a desire to give back the opportunities education provided them. "Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others," Vikas said, adding that they especially hope to support students who arrive in the US from other countries with the same ambition and belief in education that they once had. "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," he said.
Both Vikas and Anuradha began their academic journeys in India, earning bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University before moving to the United States for further studies. They completed graduate degrees at Florida Atlantic University, after which Vikas pursued studies in predictive analytics at Northwestern University and later returned to UNT, where he completed his PhD in 2023. He currently serves as vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom and has been a member of the UNT College of Information Leadership Board since 2023.
The Sinhas' relationship with UNT has deepened over the years through a series of donations. In 2024, they gave more than $3 million to establish the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, along with additional endowments for scholarships, professorships, research and special initiatives. The following year, they contributed another $2.15 million to create the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science, offering students hands-on learning and research opportunities. The latest $20 million gift builds significantly on this ongoing support.
Vikas said the decision to focus on AI and data science stems from the evolving job market and the role universities must play in preparing students for it. "Artificial intelligence will be one of the defining technologies of our generation," he said, adding that the couple wants UNT to teach students not just how to use AI but how to understand, question, govern and responsibly apply it.
The new college will integrate work across artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, data analytics, cybersecurity, data science, health informatics, information science and learning technologies. It will feature two academic divisions — one focused on developing and deploying intelligent systems, and another examining how information and such systems function within human and institutional contexts. The college will also house the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, which aims to connect research and teaching across UNT while fostering collaboration with industry.
For the Sinhas, the gift is rooted in their belief that education can transform not just individual lives but entire family futures. "We firmly believe anything on the education front brings about a generational change," Vikas said, noting UNT's large population of first-generation college students. "That actually changes that family for generations to come — and that is very fulfilling."
UNT President Harrison Keller said the Sinhas' contribution would open new opportunities for students and faculty while helping the university strengthen its work in AI, research and innovation. UNT, which serves nearly 44,000 students across its Denton and Frisco campuses, plans to formally celebrate the naming of the new college later this year.