In the News: Comets Making Headlines

Shuyang Gu MS’20, PhD’20 was recently profiled by Texas A&M University-Central Texas where she is an assistant professor of computer science in the College of Business Administration. In a TAMUCT story, Gu credits UT Dallas faculty for sparking her interest in becoming a university professor.

“The faculty (at UT Dallas),” she said, “were inspiring and a source of constant encouragement and inquiry. It was that experience that made (me) want to pursue a career of teaching at a university.”

Gu earned her master’s and PhD in computer science from the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Tony Reed MS’92 continues to collect awards and media attention for his documentary, “Breaking Three Hours: Trailblazing African American Women Marathoners,” which he wrote and produced in 2022. Reed, himself an award-winning marathon runner, made the documentary about a group of nine African American women runners who have broken the elusive three-hour time barrier in marathon races.

Reed’s documentary has won 12 film festival awards in the U.S., Canada and Sweden and has been included in a Runner’s World article featuring the “The Best Running Documentaries that Motivate and Inspire.” The film is now streaming on services including on Apple TV and Prime Video. Reed’s running career and his foray into film making was the subject of a UT Dallas alumni feature.

Sulman Ahmed BA’01 has been recognized by D Magazine as a “pioneering builder of a dental business dynasty” based in Dallas. Ahmed told the magazine he wants to build the Starbucks of dentistry and has launched more than 150 Ideal Dental offices in seven states. The DECA Dental Group founder and CEO, who was born to Pakistani parents and grew up in Zimbabwe, came to the United States to attend college, earning a business administration degree at UT Dallas and attending dental school at Tufts University in Boston.

Ahmed opened his first dental practice in Garland in 2008 while at the same time buying a second practice in Corinth. Despite the 2008 recession and some rough financial times, the young dentist’s business grew rapidly, and he was soon able to attract outside investors, including the firm Blackstone, which recently made a large investment in Ahmed’s company.