About Us

Located in Austin, Texas, one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. – and one that is widely recognized for its creative community and entrepreneurial spirit – the School of Architecture uniquely positions students to gain first-hand experience with a rapidly growing and changing built environment. As part of one of the world’s leading public research universities with over 170 fields of study, students and faculty have access to a dynamic range of expertise available on the UT Austin campus. While faculty, staff, and students engage with the broader campus and community, the School of Architecture’s influence also extends globally through studios and seminars that develop projects in Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia, and through an extensive network of alumni leaders worldwide.

The School of Architecture is regularly recognized as one of the best programs in the nation and the best in Texas. The undergraduate and graduate programs are continually ranked in the top tier of programs nationally, and the School of Architecture students are highly sought after for employment.

AT A GLANCE, THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE IS:

• A vibrant community with a broad range of expertise and interest in the built environment.
• Shaped by award-winning faculty experienced in both academic and professional realms.
• Grounded in the Austin region and the state of Texas, with international reach and consequence.
• Committed to interdisciplinary teaching and research, both within the School of Architecture and across the university.
• Addressing important societal issues facing the built environment, urbanization, energy and resource consumption, transportation, healthy living, cultural diversity, and social equity.

For general information about the School of Architecture, please visit soa.utexas.edu/.

For more information about research units housed within the School of Architecture, please visit the Center for Sustainable Development, Center for American Architecture and Design, and Affiliated Research Units.

For more information about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives within the School of Architecture, please visit soa.utexas.edu/diversity

By virtue of its public mission, culture of innovation, location, size and rich history, The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is one of the highest-impact universities in the world. As the top public university in Texas and the flagship of The University of Texas System, UT is an influential catalyst for scientific, economic, and societal progress throughout the state.

Founded in 1883, the university’s main campus spans 431 acres and has a community of 51,000 students, 3,500 faculty members and more than 15,000 staff members. In addition to its main campus near downtown, UT extends to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in north Austin, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in south Austin, the McDonald Observatory in west Texas, the Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, and several cultural and historic sites across the state.

The university is a leader in the fields of energy, computer science, entrepreneurship, and national security, and its graduate programs in accounting, petroleum engineering, geology, Latin American history, and sociology of population rank No. 1 in the United States. UT has been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is among the top producers of doctoral degrees in the nation.

UT offers more than 150 undergraduate degree programs and more than 230 graduate programs across its 18 colleges and schools in the sciences, arts, humanities, and professions:

• Cockrell School of Engineering
• College of Education
• College of Fine Arts
• College of Liberal Arts
• College of Natural Sciences
• College of Pharmacy
• Dell Medical School
• Graduate School
• Jackson School of Geosciences
• LBJ School of Public Affairs
• McCombs School of Business
• Moody College of Communication
• School of Architecture
• School of Information
• School of Law
• School of Nursing
• School of Undergraduate Studies
• Steve Hicks School of Social Work

Each year, UT researchers publish work that focuses on fighting and treating diseases, devising solutions to global problems, addressing critically important social issues, and improving the human condition. As just one example, the lab of Jason McLellan, a faculty member in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, was critical to the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

A member of the Association of American Universities since 1929, UT attracts nearly $800 million annually for research. Through a succession of large grants from the National Science Foundation, UT has built a collection of the fastest supercomputers for open research in the world. The Department of Defense has designated UT’s Applied Research Laboratories as one of five University Affiliated Research Centers for the Navy, and the university is a major collaborator with the Army Futures Command.

Research by the Numbers (FY2021)

• $779.3 million — Research expenditures
• 6,821 externally sponsored projects
• 5,000+ peer-reviewed articles published
• 110 patents issued, U.S & Foreign
• 182 invention disclosures filed
• 671 active licenses
• 91 licenses executed

Research-Related Rankings

• No. 1 among U.S. universities in research financed by the National Science Foundation in FY 2020
• No. 3 in world for must patents granted (UT System-wide), National Academy of Inventors
• No. 8 among U.S. universities that granted the most research doctorates, NCSES
• No. 29 in the world for overall research, US News
• No. 23 in the world for arts & humanities research, US News
• No. 19 for scientific research, Nature Index
• No. 14 most innovative school, US News
• No. 19 for undergraduate research/creative projects, US News

UT has many academic programs ranked in the top 25 nationally, and the number continues to rise every year. At the graduate level, 55 programs rank among the top 10, representing 12 of the university’s colleges and schools. Almost 40 other programs rank in the top 25. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2022 lists the university as the 47th best university in the world, while U.S. News & World Report ranks it 10th among American public universities.

The university’s holdings comprise more than 170 million objects including a Gutenberg Bible and other rare books, manuscripts, photographs, artworks, and artifacts from natural history to pop culture in eight museums and 17 libraries. The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library was the first presidential library to be located on a college campus.

Over the past 10 years, the campus has undergone a significant modernization and expansion of its research, academic, and community spaces. Recent new buildings — like the Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall, the G.B. Dealey Center for New Media, the Health Discovery and Health Transformation Buildings, Robert B. Rowling Hall, and the Engineering Education and Research Center — have added new state-of-the-art facilities, high-tech labs and dynamic collaboration spaces that are transforming the student and faculty experience.

The university’s large and diverse student body, storied history, strong and supportive community, and richness of tradition have given rise to a proud alumni base of more than 500,000. These “Texas Exes” include founders or co-founders of Dell Computers, American Airlines, DreamWorks, 7-Eleven, National Instruments, Carmax, and Clear Channel Communications. Among UT’s many well-known alumni are Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Durant, Michael Dell, Laura Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Wes Anderson, Robert Rodriguez, Renee Zellweger, Owen Wilson, Marcia Gay Harden, Sanya Richards Ross, Sam Rayburn, James Baker, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Brené Brown, Jim Allison, Rex Tillerson, Bill Moyers, and Walter Cronkite, as well as current Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Located beside the picturesque Hill Country of Central Texas, Austin is the state capital and the 4th largest city in Texas, which is among the top-five most diverse states in the nation. As the 11th-largest city in the United States, Austin is a vibrant and rapidly growing economic hub, widely regarded as a friendly, active, and innovative community. It is consistently regarded as a national creative center that attracts talented people from across the world.

Austin serves as the corporate headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such as Oracle, Dell, Whole Foods, Tesla, and many successful tech startups. Austin also hosts research and development offices for major technology-oriented companies such as Amazon, AMD, Apple, and Google, which have established their operations in Austin in large part to draw from the highly skilled talent the university produces. U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Austin among its Best Places to Live in America, and Expedia recently ranked it No. 1 in its 21 Super-Cool U.S. Cities list.