7, stands 307 ft (94 m) tall and dons different colors of lighting on special occasions. On August 1, 1966, Texas stud

es (2.0 km2) on the Colorado River to the university . A vote by the regents to move the campus to the donated land was met with outrage, and the land has only been used for auxiliary purposes such as graduate student housing. Part of the tract was sold in the late-1990s for luxury housing, and there are controversial proposals to sell the remainder of the tract. The Brackenridge Field Laboratory was established on 82 acres (330,000 m2) of the land in 1967.
As a result of the controversy, in 1921, the legislature appropriated $1,350,000 for the purchase of land adjacent to the main campus. But expansion was hampered by the constitutional restriction against funding the construction of buildings. With the discovery of oil on university-owned grounds in 1923, the institution was able to put its new wealth towards its general endowment fund. These savings allowed the passing of amendments to make way for bond issues in 1931 and 1947, with the latter expansion necessary from the spike in enrollment following World War II. The university built 19 permanent structures between 1950 and 1965, when it was given the right of eminent domain. With this power, the university purchased additional properties surrounding the original 40 acres (160,000 m2).
During World War II, the University of Texas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.[15] UT Austin was inducted into the American Association of Universities in 1929,[16]
1966 shooting spree[edit]


The Tower, completed in 1937, stands 307 ft (94 m) tall and dons different colors of lighting on special occasions.
On August 1, 1966, Texas student Charles Whitman barricaded the observation deck in the tower of the Main Building. With two rifles, a sawed-off shotgun and various other weapons, he killed 16 people on campus from the observation deck, below the clocks on the tower and three more in the tower, as well as wounding two more inside the observation deck. Whitman had been a patient at the University Health Center, and on March 29, preceding the shootings, had conveyed to psychiatrist Maurice Heatley his feelings of overwhelming hostilities and that he was thinking about "going up on the tower with a deer rifle and start shooting people."[17] Following the Whitman event, the observation deck was closed until 1968, and then closed again in 1975 following a series of suicide jumps during the 1970s. In 1999, after installation of security fencing and other safety precautions, the tower observation deck reopened to the public.
Recent history[edit]
The first presidential library on a university campus was dedicated on May 22, 1971 with former President Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson and then-President Richard Nixon in attendance. Constructed on the eastern side of the main campus, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
The University of Texas has experienced a wave of new construction recently with several significant buildings. On April 30, 2006, the school opened the Blanton Museum of Art.[18] In August 2008, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center opened, with the hotel and conference center forming part of a new gateway to the university. Also in 2008, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was expanded to a seating capacity of 100,119, making it the largest stadium (by

Faculty[edit] Main article: List of University of Texas at Austin faculty In the Fall of 2009, the school employed 2,77

The University of Texas offers a wide variety of varsity and intramural sports programs. As of 2008, the university's athletics program ranked fifth in the nation among Division I schools according to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.[109] Due to the breadth of sports offered and the quality of the programs, Texas was selected as "America's Best Sports College" in a 2002 analysis by Sports Illustrated.[110] Texas was also listed as the number one Collegiate Licensing Company client for the second consecutive year in regards to the amount of annual trademark royalties received from fan merchandise sales. But this ranking is based only on clients of the Collegiate Licensing Company, which does not handle licensing for approximately three-dozen large schools including Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Michigan State, and Texas A&M.[111][112]
Varsity sports[edit]


Texas Longhorns football playing against Oklahoma in the 2007 Red River Rivalry
The University's men's and women's athletics teams are nicknamed the Longhorns. A charter member of the Southwest Conference until it dissolved in 1996, Texas now competes in the Big 12 Conference of the NCAA's Division I-FBS. Texas has won 50 total national championships,[113] 42 of which are NCAA national championships.[114]
The University of Texas has traditionally been considered a college football powerhouse.[115][116][117] At the start of the 2007 season, the Longhorns were ranked third in the all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage.[118] The team experienced its greatest success under coach Darrell Royal, winning three national championships in 1963, 1969, and 1970. It won a fourth title under head coach Mack Brown in 2005 after a 41–38 victory over previously undefeated Southern California in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
In recent years, the men's basketball team has gained prominence, advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in 2002, the Final Four in 2003, the Sweet Sixteen in 2004, and the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008.
The University's baseball team is one of the nation's best. It has made more trips to the College World Series (34) than any other school, and it posted wins in 1949, 1950, 1975, 1983, 2002, and 2005.
Additionally, the University's highly successful men's and women's swimming and diving teams lay claim to sixteen NCAA Division I titles.[119] The swim team was first developed under Coach Tex Robertson.[120] In particular, the men's team is led by Eddie Reese, who served as the head men's coach at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the 2004 Games in Athens and the 2008 Games in Beijing.
People[edit]

Faculty[edit]
Main article: List of University of Texas at Austin faculty
In the Fall of 2009, the school employed 2,770 full-time faculty members (88.3% of whom hold the terminal degree in their field), with a student-to-faculty ratio of 17.3 to 1.[42] The university's faculty includes 63 members of the National Academy,[121] winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award and other various awards.[122] Nine Nobel Laureates are or have been affiliated with UT Austin. Research expenditures for UT Austin exceeded $640 million for the 2009–2010 school year.[67]
Alumni[edit]
Main article: List of University of Texas at Austin alumni


Michael Dell started PC's Limited (the precursor to Dell Computers) before dropping out of the University of Texas.
Texas Exes is the official UT alumni organization. The Alcalde, founded in 1913 and pronounced “all-call-day,” is the university's alumni magazine.
At least 15 graduates have served in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, such as Lloyd Bentsen '42, who served as both a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative, as well as being the 1988 Democratic Party Vice Presidential nominee.[123] Presidential cabinet members include former United States Secretary of State James Baker '57,[124] former United States Secretary of