The University of Texas at Dallas
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Bass School Timeline

Think. Make. Do Good. This has been part of our DNA since our founding nearly 50 years ago through our legacy schools. It has fueled key milestones, and drives the historic momentum of today as we address the needs of a new generation of artists and scholars who want to boldly imagine, invent and create.

1961

Eugene McDermott, J. Erik Jonsson, and Cecil Green

Graduate Research Center of the Southwest Established

Eugene McDermott, J. Erik Jonsson, and Cecil Green – founders of Geophysical Services Inc. (the corporation that would later become Texas Instruments Inc.) – establish the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW), the foundation for what would become The University of Texas at Dallas.

1975

School of Arts and Humanities Established

UT Dallas establishes the School of Arts and Humanities, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and programs in visual and performing arts, history and philosophy, and literature and languages.

Fall 1975

University Theatre

Five New Buildings Open on Campus

Five new buildings open on campus, including the University Theatre, the Eugene McDermott Library, Cecil H. Green Hall, Erik Jonsson Academic Center, and Hoblitzelle Hall.

Spring 1980

National Endowment for the Humanities Gift

The National Endowment for the Humanities grants UT Dallas a $50,000 gift to advance the implementation of a Master’s Degree in Translation and strengthen undergraduate translation activities.

Spring 1986

Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth establishes the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies

Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies Established

Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor, translation expert, and professor of 19th- and 20th-century European literature and history, establishes the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies.

Fall 2003

ATEC degree programs approved (newspaper)

Arts and Technology Degree Programs Approved

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approves three first-of-their-kind degree programs in arts and technology, offered for the first time at the School of Arts and Humanities in the spring 2004 semester.

Fall 2013

Edith O’Donnell Arts and
Technology Building

Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building Unveiled

UT Dallas unveils the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building, a $60 million, 155,000-square-foot facility designed to house programs in arts and technology, visual arts, emerging media, and communications.

Summer 2014

Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History offices

Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History Funded

Edith O’Donnell donates $17 million to create the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History (EODIAH), providing a research and education center led by the late Dr. Richard Brettell, a professor and Margaret M. McDermott Distinguished Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies.

Spring 2015

School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication Created

The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System authorizes the creation of the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC).

Summer 2022

The Mercury - ATEC and A&H Merge

School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology Combined

The School of Arts and Humanities (A&H) and the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC) combine to form one larger school focused broadly on the arts and humanities known as the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology (AHT).

Fall 2022

Dean Nils Roemer

UT Dallas Appoints Roemer as Inaugural Dean of School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology

Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies, is appointed the inaugural dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.

Spring 2023

Harry W. Bass Jr.

The Naming of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology as the Bass School

The Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation makes a $40 million gift to UT Dallas to support the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology (AHT). The landmark gift names AHT the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.

Fall 2024

Phase I of
the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr.
Athenaeum

The O’Donnell Athenaeum

UT Dallas unveils the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, an emerging cultural district at the southeastern edge of campus, with the opening of Phase I, the second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art. It also breaks ground for Phase II, a performance hall dedicated to elevating musical excellence at the University.