Texas A&M – Fort Worth
An Overview
Background: In November 2020, Chancellor John Sharp met with officials representing Fort Worth and Tarrant County, along with representatives of the Fort Worth business community. The reason for their meeting was to solicit Texas A&M’s interest in establishing a presence in the city, the largest Texas city without a significant presence by a large public research university.
After a year of discussions, the initial plan resulted in what has come to be known as Texas A&M – Fort Worth, which will soon be a three-building complex on the southeast side of downtown Fort Worth at the site of the current Texas A&M University Law School.
Campus Development: As it is envisioned, the complex will provide facilities for a diverse range of programs offered by Texas A&M University, Tarleton State University, the rapidly rising Texas A&M Law School and the Texas A&M engineering, agriculture, emergency management and health sciences. Academic programs to be offered include law, medical technology, nursing, engineering and other programs designed to meet the economic development and workforce needs of one of the fastest growing cities in America and one of the most robust economic regions of Texas.
Also in the complex will be a Research and Innovation Building that will house public and private research and development in such areas as engineering, defense, agriculture, telecommunications, health sciences, and computer-based visualization technologies. In addition, the facility will be the home to the regional offices of several Texas A&M agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, and the Texas Engineering Extension Service.
A third building will replace the current Law School building, a structure that is more than 50 years old and not adequate to handle the needs of the Law School, which is rising in the national rankings and now has approximately 1,200 students.
Innovation District Hub: The complex will serve as the anchor for a broader effort by the City and County to create a technology and research innovation district on the southeast side of downtown which will spur growth and meet the diverse needs of the Fort Worth and Tarrant County economies.
Construction Plans: The Texas A&M University System will fund the academic building, the project’s first phase. Ground breaking on the structure is projected for June 2023 with completion in 2025.
The two other buildings will be financed through a unique partnership between Texas A&M University System and the City of Fort Worth that will allow more rapid completion of the project and will provide a facility where public and private sector partners can collaborate on an ongoing basis. The scheduled completion of these buildings is to be determined.