In the News: Comets Making Headlines

According to Rutgers Today, The University of Texas at Dallas alumnus William F. Tate IV MA’87 has been named the 22nd president of Rutgers University in New Jersey in May. He has served as president of Louisiana State University since 2021.

According to the Rutgers news publication, Tate previously served as vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina, was a department chair and dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and held tenured professorships at Texas Christian University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tate earned a master’s degree in mathematical sciences education from UTD and his PhD in mathematics education and human development from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In 2022 Tate was a recipient of the UT Dallas Distinguished Alumni Award. Tate is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Education and Sigma Xi and a fellow in the American Educational Research Association.

The Dallas Business Journal has recognized a number of business innovators as recipients of the 2025 Women in Technology Award, including an alumna of UT Dallas. Veena Somareddy MA’14 founded Neuro Rehab VR to help patients with neurological injuries recover using virtual reality therapy.

Somareddy, CEO of Neuro Rehab VR, told the DBJ, “My time at The University of Texas at Dallas, studying computer science and game design, gave me this incredible toolkit. I learned how to build immersive and interactive worlds, and it just clicked that these same principles could be applied to create really engaging and motivating experiences for people going through neurological rehabilitation.”

Somareddy graduated in 2014 with a master’s degree from the School of Arts and Humanities, now known as the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.

Eye surgeon Dr. Aaron Dotson BS’15 has been featured in The Dallas Morning News where he reflected on his University education and the role that music has played in his life.

Dotson graduated from UT Dallas in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and minored in music at the University’s Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. He is currently completing his surgical fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco following his graduation from medical school at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

“I chose to minor in music because piano and music will always be my first love,” Dotson said in the article. “It helped keep me grounded while tackling these very rigorous pre-med classes. And even now, as a surgeon, that is still the case.”

The newspaper reported that while at UTD Dotson tutored fellow students as a Peer-Led Team Learning leader within the Student Success Center, mentored freshmen and served as chair of the Committee of Academic Advancement for the Black Student Alliance. He also earned the UT Dallas Presidential Achievement Scholarship and was a student commencement speaker at his graduation.

“I think of UT Dallas so much; I think of all of the mentors who have shaped me into the person, physician and surgeon that I am today,” Dotson said.