Establishment of University of Texas at Dallas

Date: June 13, 1969 • Location: Richardson, United States

Preston Smith, Governor of Texas, signed a law converting a research arm of Texas Instruments into the University of Texas at Dallas.

Preston Earnest Smith was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 40th governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973. A conservative member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 35th lieutenant governor from 1963 to 1969. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1945 and served until 1951 and to the Texas Senate in 1957.