UT Dallas started as a research lab. Texas Instruments founders set up the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in 1961, and it became part of the state university system in 1969. The first building, designed by O'Neil Ford, opened in 1964, and a 2010 landscape plan turned the concrete campus into one of pools, magnolias and shade. This walk runs from the chess boards at the south end of the mall, under the steel trellis, past a big red sculpture and the library, to the building where it all began.
The human-scale chessboards of Chess Plaza at the south end of the campus mall. Photo: Stan9999, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What you'll see
UT Dallas began as a research lab, not a college. In 1961 the founders of Texas Instruments set up the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, which joined the state university system in 1969. This compact walk shows how a once-austere concrete campus became one of the most striking landscapes in North Texas.
The change came with landscape architect Peter Walker's 2010 plan, which added long, shallow reflecting pools and rows of magnolias in the spirit of formal French gardens. At its center is the Trellis, a vine-covered steel frame by engineer Werner Sobek, 25 feet tall and 150 feet on a side, that shades the campus's main gathering spot. Chess Plaza's giant outdoor boards celebrate the chess program that put UT Dallas on the national map, and students can challenge chess team members to a game.
Campus icons add personality. Love Jack, Jim Love's big red sculpture shaped like a child's jack, has become one of the school's best-known symbols. The Founders Building, the 1964 O'Neil Ford design where the university's story began, is where Aziz Sancar did doctoral research that later helped earn him the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and its rock garden includes a gneiss roughly 3.5 billion years old.
It's an easy, shady walk for families, design lovers and science fans.
Around University of Texas at Dallas
A mist fountain beneath the steel Trellis at the center of the campus mall. Photo: Stan9999, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsReflecting pools and magnolias along the central mall from Peter Walker's landscape plan. Photo: Stan9999, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsJim Love's red sculpture Jack, known as Love Jack, outside the Erik Jonsson Academic Center. Photo: Stan9999, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsGreen Hall, named for Texas Instruments founder Cecil Green, near the painted Spirit Rocks. Photo: Stan9999, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Watch: University of Texas at Dallas
Where it starts
The tour begins in Richardson. Open Texas Roam to follow the full route stop by stop, with directions and audio narration as you go.
It is a self-guided walking tour: 6 stops, about 0.6 miles, ~35 min. Go at your own pace; the app keeps your place.
Where does it start?
In Richardson, Texas. The exact starting point, the full stop list and turn-by-turn directions are in the TexasRoam app.
How do I take this tour?
Download TexasRoam for iPhone or iPad from the App Store. The tour is included with TexasRoam+. It is not available on the web map.
When is the best time to go?
Walk in daylight on a weekday during the semester, when the Trellis and Chess Plaza are at their liveliest.
Take the “UT Dallas Campus Tour”
Texas Roam guides you turn by turn through Richardson with maps, audio narration and check-ins as you go — plus all 6 stops on this tour and every guided tour, hiking trail and historical marker across Texas. Get it on the App Store.
Guided tours & hiking trails are available only in the TexasRoam app for iPhone & iPad — not on the web map. Free to download; unlock with TexasRoam+.
