The University of Texas at Dallas, also referred to as UT Dallas or UTD, is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in the heart of the Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, 18 miles (29 km) north of downtown Dallas. The institution, established in 1961 as the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest and later renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies (SCAS), began as a research arm of Texas Instruments. In 1969 the founders bequeathed SCAS to the State of Texas and Governor Preston Smith signed the bill officially creating the University of Texas at Dallas. UTD offers over 142 academic programs across its seven schools and hosts more than 50 research centers and institutes. With a number of interdisciplinary degree programs, its curriculum is designed to allow study that crosses traditional disciplinary lines and to enable students to participate in collaborative research labs. Entering freshmen average math and critical reading SAT scores are consistently above 1200 and are among the highest of the public universities in Texas. The U.S.