Indian-origin couple donates $20 million for US college, to be named after them

An Indian-origin engineer couple, Vikas and Anuradha Sinha, has donated $20 million to the University of North Texas to establish an AI and advanced analytics college that will bear their name.

An Indian-origin engineer couple has donated USD 20 million to the University of North Texas to establish a college dedicated to artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. The institution will be named after the couple.  

The university announced that the new institution will be called the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics and will create new opportunities for students and faculty.  

"Vikas and Anu's commitment will create new opportunities for our students and faculty to build, study and apply these technologies while advancing central priorities of our Look North: UNT 2030 strategic plan - reshaping how we prepare students for a changing labour market, accelerating interdisciplinary research and innovation, and creating enduring value for North Texas and the state," said UNT President Harrison Keller.

About the college

The college will be structured around two divisions: the Division of Applied Intelligence and Informatics, which will focus on developing and implementing intelligent systems, and the Division of Information and Learning Applications, which will examine how information and intelligent systems function within human and institutional settings.

It will serve as an academic and research centre dedicated to artificial intelligence, intelligent systems and data analytics.

The college will bring together expertise across fields such as AI, cybersecurity, data science, advanced analytics, health informatics, information science, library science and learning technologies.

The donation will establish six permanent endowments to support college leadership, student scholarships, endowed professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research, and emerging technologies.

"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," Vikas Sinha, Vice President, Broadcom, said.

"Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others," Sinha added.

The college will also house the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, which will bring together AI and analytics research and education across UNT. The institute will foster opportunities for interdisciplinary research, shared infrastructure, external research funding and partnerships with industry.

About Anuradha and Vikas

Vikas and Anuradha moved to the United States from India to pursue higher education after completing bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, Uttar Pradesh.

Both earned graduate degrees from Florida Atlantic University. Vikas later studied at Northwestern University before completing his PhD at UNT in 2023.

In 2024, the Sinhas made a donation to establish the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, along with endowments supporting scholarships, faculty, research and special initiatives.

A year later, they made another significant contribution to establish the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.

The latest gift will further UNT's goals in student success, research and innovation while helping prepare graduates for a workforce increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence and data.

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