Welcome to the Jackson School. For more than a century, teachers, researchers, students, and graduates of the University of Texas at Austin have been global leaders in the geosciences. The best is truly yet to come.

Today, the Jackson School has embarked on an ambitious journey to become the preeminent geoscience program. To reach this goal, we are engaged in a series of new strategies:

• Creating the world's most student-centered earth science program.
• Attracting and retaining the best research talent, especially emerging stars who will transform our discipline.
• Increasing the breadth and depth of our faculty and research community, expanding our reputation as leaders in preparing outstanding professionals for the full range of geoscience careers and establishing the standard of excellence for both basic and applied research across the earth sciences.
• Establishing the fabric of a great school—a school of valued partnerships, with a strong sense of community, global in its reach, that is empowering the next generation of scholars and transforming lives for the benefit of society.

When the late John A. Jackson endowed our school, he directed his investment broadly, toward "the subjects of geology; geophysics; energy, mineral and water resources; as well as the broad areas of the earth sciences, including the Earth’s environment."

His investment was the largest single gift by an individual ever made to a public university. The charge of his gift and the responsibilities that come with it are enormous—and so are the outcomes we seek. Whatever your connection to the Jackson School, please consider joining us in this great adventure.

Eric J. Barron
Dean