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A corporate research lab was turned into a public university
As governor, Preston Smith signed a law converting a Texas Instruments research arm into the University of Texas at Dallas.
Preston Smith was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 40th governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973, after a stint as lieutenant governor. A conservative member of the Democratic Party, he made one decision with lasting academic reach.
He signed a law that converted a research arm of the company Texas Instruments into a new public institution, the University of Texas at Dallas. The move transformed a corporate laboratory into a state university.
Why it mattersIt is a rare case of a company's private research lab being reborn as a public university serving generations of students.
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