UTSA - History

History

The University of Texas at San Antonio was founded on June 5, 1969 by the 61st Texas Legislature as H.B. 42 and signed into law by Governor Preston Smith. In 1970, the University of Texas Board of Regents appointed the university's first president, Arleigh B. Templeton, who served from 1970 to 1972, and received a land donation of 600 acres (2.4 km2) in far northwest San Antonio for the site of UTSA. Architects Ford, Powell and Carson Inc. were assigned to design a master plan for the university. The 671 graduate students comprising the first class at the university were admitted in September 1973. Upperclassmen and lowerclassmen were admitted in 1975 and 1976, respectively. Students temporarily attended class at the Koger Center, which also housed administrative offices until 1975, when construction on the 1604 campus (now the Main Campus) was completed. Enrollment during this time numbered 4,433 students. UTSA began with five colleges: Business, Fine and Applied Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Multidisciplinary Studies and Science and Mathematics.

In 1976 the John Peace Library opened, serving as the administrative headquarters of the university. James W. Wagener, a graduate of Southern Methodist University and former acting-dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center, was selected to be UTSA's third president in 1978. The Alumni Association was formed that same year, providing a new avenue of support for the university. At the end of the 1970's, enrollment numbered 9,400 undergraduate and graduate students.

The Paisano, the university's award-winning newspaper, was established in 1981 as the first independent student publication in the state. The Student Representative Assembly headed the burial of a time capsule in 1983, the university's 10th anniversary, instructing it to be opened on June 5, 2023. In 1986, UTSA acquired the Institute of Texan Cultures, a center for multicultural education in the state, as a campus. During this year, both the University Center and Chisholm Hall, the first on-campus housing complex, opened.

The Downtown Campus opened the doors at its permanent location on Interstate Highway 10 and Cesar Chavez Blvd. (then Durango Blvd.) in 1997.

Nowadays, UTSA has become a nationally-ranked research university with over 30,000 students. As of 2012, it has 63 undergraduate programs, 51 master's programs and 24 doctoral programs within its eight colleges. The university has over 90,000 alumni graduates, 17 athletic sports and 614 tenured and tenure-track faculty. For fiscal year 2011, it delegated $79 million towards research expenditures, demonstrating the university's commitment towards achieving nationally-renowned research. UTSA is also the city's sole NCAA Division I university, becoming a member of the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 and moving on to Conference USA in 2013. An athletic complex is being constructed slightly west of the main campus and will feature pedestrian-friendly mixed-use areas. The Master Plan directs the future physical growth of the institution, with the stated goal of enhancing its research infrastructure.