When Anuradha and Vikas Sinha left India for higher education in the US, they were beginning a journey that would eventually take them from civil engineering to technology and academia. Decades later, the Indian-origin couple is giving back in a way that could shape the next generation of artificial intelligence researchers and professionals.The Sinhas have donated $20 million (Rs 1 arab 90 crores) to the University of North Texas (UNT) to establish a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. The university will name it the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics in recognition of their contribution.For the couple, however, the donation is more than a major philanthropic gift. It marks another chapter in their long association with UNT and an institution that has been closely connected with Vikas Sinha’s own academic journey.According to the University of North Texas, the $20 million gift will support six permanent endowments covering areas such as college leadership, student scholarships, professorships, entrepreneurship and incubation, advanced research and emerging technologies.
From Sri Venkateswara University to the US
The couple’s journey began in India, where both Anuradha and Vikas Sinha studied civil engineering at Sri Venkateswara University. After completing their bachelor’s degrees, they moved to the US for higher studies and earned graduate degrees from Florida Atlantic University. Vikas later studied at Northwestern University before pursuing his PhD at the University of North Texas, which he completed in 2023.Today, he is vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom. He has also remained involved with UNT and serves on the leadership board of its College of Information.That connection with the university has grown over the years. Their latest contribution is not their first major gift to UNT.
Both Anuradha and Vikas Sinha studied civil engineering in India
Their earlier gifts also focused on education
In 2024, the couple supported the creation of the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science at UNT. Their support included funding for scholarships, faculty and research.The following year, another contribution helped establish the Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science. Their latest $20 million commitment expands that focus from data science to the much larger and rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.UNT says the new college will bring together areas including AI, cybersecurity, data science, health informatics, information science and learning technologies. The university also plans to establish an Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, which will work across different disciplines and connect research and education with industry.
Why AI, and why now?
Artificial intelligence has moved far beyond being a niche technology. From software development and healthcare to education, finance and manufacturing, AI is increasingly influencing how industries work.The Sinhas’ contribution comes at a time when universities around the world are racing to expand AI education and research. Their vision, however, is not simply about producing students who know how to use AI tools.“Education has opened doors for us throughout our lives, and we want to hold those doors open for others,” Vikas Sinha said in the university’s announcement.The new college is expected to help students understand not just how AI works, but also how to build, apply and govern the technology responsibly.For an institution, such long-term funding can make a difference in several ways. Scholarships can make programmes accessible to more students, endowed faculty positions can help attract academics and researchers, while dedicated research and entrepreneurship funding can help ideas move from classrooms and laboratories into real-world applications.
A journey that came full circle
There is also something deeply personal about the couple choosing UNT for such a significant contribution. Vikas Sinha was once a student at the university, completing his PhD there in 2023. Today, the institution is establishing a college carrying the names of both him and his wife.Their story began in India with degrees in a field far removed from today’s AI boom. It then took them across the world for higher education, into technology careers and eventually back to the university that became an important part of their academic journey.The couple’s philanthropy reflects that evolution. Their earlier support helped strengthen data science at UNT; their latest gift is aimed at a field that is now transforming the future of technology.For the university, the $20 million contribution means new resources for students, faculty and researchers. For the Sinhas, it is also a way of passing forward the opportunity that education once gave them.And in a field as fast-moving as artificial intelligence, they are choosing to invest not just in today’s technology, but in the people who will decide what comes next.