The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved two building projects for UT Dallas and the next phase of campus landscape enhancement as part of the system’s Capital Improvement Program.

Center for BrainHealth

The Center for BrainHealth will receive an extension that will be known as the Brain Performance Institute.

Regents approved in February construction of a $33 million extension of the Center for BrainHealth that will be known as the Brain Performance Institute. Once funding is secured, the newly constructed 67,500-square-foot facility will house the Institute’s national headquarters, where the latest brain research will be applied to help individuals work to maximize cognitive performance.

Also approved was a $20 million expansion and renovation project for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders at the UT Dallas main campus in Richardson. The project will accommodate increased student enrollment, more faculty and expanded clinical outreach to the community.

The campus landscape upgrades, again led by the acclaimed landscape architect Peter Walker and his firm PWP Landscape Architecture of Berkeley, Calif., will enhance the area north of the original mall project, from the plaza to the Administration Building. The $15 million enhancement will include main pedestrian walkways and corridors on campus, the outdoor space between the Founders and University Theatre buildings and other areas on campus.

“We are very grateful for the support of The University of Texas Board of Regents for these two much-needed facilities for UT Dallas, as well as the second phase of the campus enhancement project,” said Dr. David E. Daniel, president of The University of Texas at Dallas.

Callier Center, Richardson, TX

The Callier Center at the Richardson campus will receive a $20 million expansion and renovation.

“These building projects will allow us to extend our research and training capabilities in brain sciences and audiology, two important areas in which UT Dallas has achieved national renown,” Daniel said. “Phase two of the landscape project will tie together both ends of campus and further enhance the educational experience for our students.”

Dr. Calvin Jamison, vice president for administration, said the building projects are expected to be under construction in the next 18 to 24 months, and the entire landscape project addition would be phased in through 2015.

“Besides adding to the beauty of the entire campus, the north mall enhancement will provide a destination area, where students, staff and faculty will be able to gather and enjoy the additional green space,” Jamison said. “The additional projects will continue to enhance our program utility and campus attractiveness.”

The Brain Performance Institute’s location near the Center for BrainHealth and UT Southwestern Medical Center will allow scientists, research clinicians and graduate students to use technologies and methodologies that the center’s team has developed to help expand and strengthen brain performance at all ages, in healthy people as well as in individuals with brain injury and brain disease.  

UT Dallas campus

An extension of the University's campus enhancement project will complement work recently completed on the Student Mall.

“The institute will translate pioneering research into programs that empower cognitive resurrection and address diminishing cognitive brain performance across the lifespan,” said Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth.

Researchers will work with a wide range of individuals, from middle school children to corporate executives, as well as veterans, athletes, individuals diagnosed with autism, multiple sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer’s and other ailments.

“Expanding and extending the cognitive brain span is the next major frontier to further explore and solve,” Chapman said. “We are grateful that the UT System Regents have taken the first step to make our vision of an epicenter of brain health fitness a reality.”

“These building projects will allow us to extend our research and training capabilities in brain sciences and audiology, two important areas in which UT Dallas has achieved national renown. Phase two of the landscape project will tie together both ends of campus and further enhance the educational experience for our students.”

Dr. David E. Daniel,
president of UT Dallas

At the main campus in Richardson, the expansion of the Callier Center will include a 63,200-square-foot addition and 14,000 square feet of renovation to the existing building for research in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

“This expansion will enable UT Dallas to train the next generation of speech-language pathologists and audiologists, and accommodate the increased demand for research, training and patient care,” said Dr. Thomas Campbell, executive director for the Callier Center.

Enrollment in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences has increased from 1,345 in 2006 to 2,154 in 2012, with a projected enrollment of 2,750 by 2017. The expansion will provide space for more classrooms and faculty offices, and a state-of-the-art clinic to treat a growing patient base in North Texas. A new auditorium will provide educational outreach to the community.

The center provides more than 48,000 clinical services in speech, language and hearing disorders for 4,000 children and adults each year. Services include intervention for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, a cochlear implant program for children who are deaf, hearing services for children and adults, and speech and language therapy.