UTEP President: Research at UTEP Remains Strong
In annual State of the University address, UTEP President praises numerous research successes
EL PASO, Texas (August 22, 2025) – In her state of the University address during UTEP’s 2025 Convocation, President Heather Wilson congratulated University researchers for the continued strength of their work, touting a number of recent and successful University research initiatives.
“Deep rooted in the excellence of our faculty, our research at UTEP is strong. Even in storms of change, we continue to build upon our research success, creating meaningful knowledge that improves the lives of those in El Paso and around the world,” said Wilson.
In her address, Wilson highlighted research projects on a number of critical topics, including cancer research; dust storms and their growing impact; improved desalination techniques for water supply; and diagnosing devastating illnesses like Chagas disease.
Additionally, Wilson enumerated major research successes in the past year, including:
- Established in 2024, the Regents’ Research Excellence Program has now hired 33 research faculty, including four tenured professors, three associate professors, 15 research professors and 11 postdoctoral researchers. The program provides funding for UTEP to recruit senior research faculty who are prominent in fields like advanced manufacturing and quantum computing.
- UTEP launched its first-ever artificial intelligence institute, known as the Applied AI Innovation Institute, thanks to support from the Regent’s Research Excellence fund. The institute will address pressing regional and national challenge like water scarcity and Hispanic health disparities.
- More than 500 UTEP doctoral students now have their tuition fully covered through UTEP’s Tuition Remission Program. This allows UTEP to recruit students for grad school who may not have the financial means; retain students whose tuition was an added stressor; and ultimately produce more productive and skilled graduates who get to focus on their programs.
- In April of 2024, UTEP opened a new $80M facility known as the Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center. In the 29 laboratories housed in the building, researchers will study things like Moon habitation, space robotics and exotic-material 3D printing.
- Earlier this year, UTEP received funding from the Texas legislature to conduct high priority research with NASA.
Wilson also foreshadowed facilities upgrades on the horizon, including the opening of Texas Western Hall in January of this academic year and the approval by the Regents of $118 million for deferred maintenance on campus as well as the refurbishment of the Student Union.
“The next several years on campus will see the opening of our next beautiful, modern classroom building, restoration of the arroyo where the Liberal Arts building now stands, dozens of building improvements that have been deferred for too long, and revitalization of the Student Union because of the great leadership of our student body,” said Wilson. “We will also be adding more housing for the increasing number of students who want to live on campus — including those from other regions of Texas and beyond.”
Additional highlights in her speech, including UTEP topping $40M in fundraising for the third year in a row; and more than $47M in support for the forthcoming Mining Engineering program to date.
Wilson also announced the 2025 President’s Meritorious Service Awards. This year’s winners are:
- Staff Award: Maryam Zarei, Ph.D., Outreach Coordinator, Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences
- Faculty Award: Hilda Ontiveros Arrieta, Ph.D., Women’s and Gender Studies
- Team Award: Consultation, Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) team, Division of Student Affairs
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 171 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
Last Updated on August 22, 2025 at 12:00 AM | Originally published August 22, 2025
By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
