Indian-Origin Couple Donates $20 Million To US University For AI, Advanced Analytics

An Indian-origin couple has donated $20 million to the University of North Texas (UNT) to expand research and education in artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, the university said in a press statement. In recognition of the gift, UNT will establish the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, which will serve as a new academic and research hub for AI, intelligent systems and data analytics.

New College To Focus On AI, Data Science And Cybersecurity

The new college will bring together expertise in AI, cybersecurity, data science, advanced analytics, health informatics, information science, library science and learning technologies.

It will have two academic divisions: the Division of Applied Intelligence and Informatics, focused on developing and deploying intelligent systems, and the Division of Information and Learning Applications, focused on how information and intelligent systems function within human and institutional settings.

The college will also house the Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, designed to connect AI and analytics research across UNT while supporting interdisciplinary research, shared infrastructure, external funding and industry partnerships.

The $20 million donation will create six permanent endowments supporting college leadership, student scholarships, endowed professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies.

The Sinhas have previously supported UNT. In 2024, they established the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, along with endowments for scholarships, faculty and research. In 2025, they funded the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.

Vikas Sinha: ‘Immigrants... Help Build’ The American Dream

Vikas Sinha said education had played a central role in his and Anuradha's lives and motivated them to support other students.

“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” he said.

The couple's support, he added, was also aimed at students arriving in the US with ambitions similar to theirs. “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,” Sinha said.

He described AI as “one of the defining technologies of our generation” and said universities must prepare people to shape its future.

“What excites us about UNT's vision is that it will go beyond teaching students how to use AI. It will prepare them to build it, understand it, question it, govern it and apply it responsibly,” he said.

UNT President Harrison Keller said AI was rapidly changing how people work, conduct research and solve problems, adding that universities had a responsibility to help shape what comes next.

“The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics positions UNT to lead in that work,” Keller said.

Sinha studied at Sri Venkateswara University and G Pulla Reddy Engineering College in Kurnool before moving to the US for advanced education. He and Anuradha earned graduate degrees from Florida Atlantic University. Vikas later studied at Northwestern University and received his PhD from UNT in 2023.

He is now vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom and has served on UNT's College of Information Leadership Board since 2023.

UNT, a public research university and the largest university in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has nearly 44,000 students across its Denton and Frisco campuses and awarded more than 13,000 degrees last year. The university said it will formally mark the naming of the new college at an event later this year.