David E. Daniel

Dr. David E. Daniel is President Emeritus of The University of Texas at Dallas and an engineering consultant in Dallas, Texas. He earned BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and served on the faculty at UT Austin from 1981 to 1996. His research focused on environmental controls to prevent contamination of land and water. From 1996 to 2005, he served as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, and then as Dean of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From 2005 to 2015 he was President of The University of Texas at Dallas and oversaw a trebling of research expenditures, securing more than $250 million in gifts, and construction of $1 billion in new campus buildings and infrastructure. Daniel advocated for expanded research at Texas’ universities, an effort that ultimately led to $1 B in additional state funding and recognition for him by the Dallas Morning News as a finalist for Texan of the Year.

From 2015 to 2018 he served as Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer of The University of Texas System in Austin. Honors include the Normal Medal, Croes Medal, Middlebrooks Award, Presidents Award, and Geotechnical Hero’s Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In 2000, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Dr. Daniel currently serves as President of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences of Texas (TAMEST), which is an organization of approximately 320 Texans who have won a Nobel prize or been elected to one of the three National Academies (Medicine, Engineering, or Sciences).