#UTCountdown

When the iconic university Tower lights the Austin sky with an orange glow and the number “1” shines on its sides, Longhorns know we've claimed a national championship.

Four times, we've lit the Tower with a No. 1 to boast of a national title in football - in 1963, 1969 and 1970 under legendary coach Darrell K Royal and then again in 2005. In all, 51 Texas Athletics teams have claimed national titles, sending Longhorn pride beaming into the Texas night.

But UT isn't just top-ranked on the field and court.

Ranked among the biggest and best research universities in the country, UT Austin offers dozens of top-ranked programs with a proven record of success.

But you don't have to take our word for it: The university is one of the nation's top 20 public universities according to U.S. News & World Report, with the No. 1 accounting and Latin American history graduate programs in the country, plus more than 15 undergraduate programs and 40 graduate programs ranked in the top 10 nationally. No matter where you look, it's clear that academic excellence is an essential part of the UT Austin experience.

And at UT Austin, the core values of learning, freedom, responsibility, individual opportunity, leadership and discovery instilled in our students have propelled Longhorns to groundbreaking, innovative accomplishments that have changed the world.

These No. 1 rankings, first-ever discoveries and first-of-a-kind accomplishments are all just one more reason to love UT:

In 1957, UT Austin hired the first female professor of electrical engineering in the country.

When Lorene Rogers became the first female president of UT Austin 40 years ago, she also became the first woman to head a major research university and the first woman to lead a public university in the U.S.

UT engineering alumna Colonel Jeannie Leavitt became the Air Force's first mission-qualified female fighter pilot.

UT alumnus Dr. Denton A. Cooley, B.A. '41, participated in the first intracardiac operations in England, performed the first successful human heart transplant in the U.S. and became the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart in a man.

UT Austin is home of the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, the first video game program in the United States led and taught by gaming industry executives.

The Freshman Research Initiative at UT Austin is a first-of-its-kind program for giving first-year students hands-on experience with research. Universities across the country are now imitating the model.

In addition to being home to the First Photograph, UT Austin students and researchers also created the first-ever living bacterial photographs.

In 2012, UT astronomers and NASA discovered the first multi-planet system around a binary star. Like something out of “Star Wars,” the Tatooine-like system proves planetary systems can form in a disk around a binary star.

UT engineers built the world's smallest, fastest nanomotor.

UT Austin is helping to construct the world's most powerful optical telescope.

UT researcher Todd Humphreys developed the first centimeter-accurate technology for use in mobile devices.

UT Austin houses “the most integrated and largest microgrid in the U.S., a model for saving money and energy.”

For nine consecutive years, the McCombs School of Business undergraduate program has been ranked No. 1 for accounting by U.S. News and World Report. And for the 11th time in 14 years, McCombs ranks No. 1 across all three of the 2014 rankings of the Public Accounting Reporter (PAR) for undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. programs.

The Cockrell School of Engineering is home of the No. 1 petroleum engineering graduate program, according to the most recent report from U.S. News and World Report.

The Latin American History graduate program in the College of Liberal Arts ranks No. 1 on U.S. News and World Report's list of the “Best Graduate Schools.”

USA Today College ranks UT Austin's College of Education the No. 1 place to study early childhood education.

The iconic Longhorn silhouette is the No. 1 logo in college football.

UT Austin is the most influential U.S. university on Twitter.

UT Austin and the Forty Acres are the No. 1 campus worth traveling for.

The Center for Sports Leadership is a first-of-its-kind program built on UT Austin's long-held philosophy of “winning with integrity.” The center helps student athletes succeed on and off the field as a responsible citizens.

Like the state it calls home, The University of Texas at Austin is a bold, ambitious leader. Tradition and innovation blend seamlessly to provide students with a robust learning experience.

UT Austin achieves excellence in the interrelated areas of education, research and public service while contributing to the advancement of society, preserving and promoting the arts, benefiting the state's economy and serving its citizens.

When looking at Longhorns' records both on and off the field, it's clear The University of Texas at Austin transforms lives for the benefit of society and that What Starts Here Changes the World.

#UTcountdown is celebrating the best of UT off the field in anticipation of football season. To recap UT stories from the countdown to kickoff, visit utcountdown.tumblr.com and follow #UTCountdown on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Using software to evaluate three playwrights' use of function and categorical words and examining Shakespeare's trademark misspellings and bad handwriting helped the researchers determine the work was Shakespeare's writing.

Questioning the authorship of the works of famous writers has always been a form of blood sport in the humanities. A pair of Psychology Department researchers identified Shakespeare as the author of the long-contested play Double Falsehood, and English professor Douglas Bruster found evidence confirming 325 additional lines in five passages of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy were written by The Bard.

In the College of Liberal Arts, more than 10,000 students and 500 faculty members are dedicated to teaching, research and service in the humanities and social sciences. Along with learning, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity and responsibility, discovery is one of UT Austin's core values. The university is committed discovery by expanding knowledge and human understanding.

[Summer with Shakespeare: See why these UT students spend two months - and 18 hours a day - studying The Bard's work, and watch them bring Shakespeare's work to life.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

Proving that What Starts Here Changes The World, the three Longhorns who have won a Nobel Prize are:

Steven Weinberg, the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1979, for his “contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current.”

Ilya Prigogine, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1977, for his “contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures.”

Hermann J. Muller, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1946, “for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation.”

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

President Barack Obama and three former Presidents delivered remarks at the Civil Rights Summit on campus last year: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

To commemorate the anniversary of one of LBJ's crowning achievements, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the four U.S. presidents, civil rights leaders, scholars, activists and media came to the Forty Acres to discuss the future of civil rights advocacy in the United States.

Held in April 2014 and hosted by the LBJ Presidential Library, the summit marked the 50th anniversary of the landmark legislation and was a lead story for major media outlets, with The New York Times publishing an article about the summit: "Remembering L.B.J. for More Than Vietnam."

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

The temporary and permanent exhibits in the Texas Memorial Museum are created from holdings of more than 5 million specimens from geological and paleontological fieldwork conducted by UT Austin scientists and also from public donations.

The Texas Memorial Museum's exhibits focus on dinosaurs and fossils, Texas wildlife, gems and minerals. TMM also features a working Paleontology Lab where visitors can interact with scientists as they prepare fossil finds.

[Plan your visit to the Texas Memorial Museum.]

Spotlighted in the exhibits are spectacular specimens found in Texas, including the largest flying creature ever found - the Texas Pterosaur, with a wingspan of 52 feet - and the 30-foot Onion Creek mosasaur that swam the shallow sea once covering most of the state 80 million years ago.

If the dinosaurs don't pique your interest, then check out the giant 1,778-carat- blue topaz gemstone that weighs more than a full can of a soda or the 140 mineral and gem specimens collected across the world by a former Texas legislator who served under Gen. Douglas MacArthur during World War II.

The museum store is a perfect place to find gifts for the naturalist in your life, and the exhibits are a great way for the family to learn about Texas biodiversity past and present.

[Make a gift to support the Texas Memorial Museum.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

Storing seeds from native plants is a priority the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center embraced when it collected 6 million seeds for a global seed-saving project.

The Millennium Seed Bank project, led by the United Kingdom's Royal Botanic Garden in Kew, gathered seeds from 10 percent of flowering plants that form the backbone of critically important native landscapes.

Two center botanists crisscrossed the state to gather seeds from 600 native Texas species. The stash - now stored in freezers in three cities - includes everything from the Texas bluebonnet to angels' trumpets to wild buckwheat. Those seeds could be planted to restore damaged landscapes, and some are already being used for research projects.

[Watch a video about a West Texas seed collection for the Millennium Seed Bank.]

The conservationists collected thousands of seeds from each species after climbing rocky cliffs in West Texas, trekking in the El Paso desert, wading through East Texas bogs and more to find healthy populations.

"You really have to love plants a lot - love the reason you're doing this, or you'd never keep going," says plant conservationist Minnette Marr.

More than 100 volunteers and botanists helped collect and process each collection for a cold storage that could last as long as 200 years.

For more than 30 years, the Wildflower Center has demonstrated the beauty and value of North America's native plants. The Wildflower Center conducts innovative native plant research, develops comprehensive educational materials and consults on landscape development projects of all sizes to capitalize on the ability of native landscapes to improve communities.

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

These seven Longhorns have changed the world by developing new ways to treat disease, revolutionizing consumer electronics and breaking ground in fields from mathematical physics to electroanalytical chemistry.

Established by Congress in 1959, the National Medal of Science is a Presidential award is given to individuals "deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences."

In 1980 Congress expanded this recognition to include the social and behavioral sciences. A committee of 12 distinguished scientists and engineers appointed by the President, who presents the award annually, evaluates nominees for the award.

The seven Longhorns awarded the National Medal of Science, and the brief descriptions of the their accomplishments included with the award, are:

Allen J. Bard (Chemistry, 2011) "For contributions in electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photoelectrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning electrochemical microscope."

Karl Folkers (Chemistry, 1990) "For his discoveries and leadership in combining basic chemical research and clinical medicine to achieve new treatments of diseases which have enhanced the quality of life and extended survival rates for countless people."

John B. Goodenough (Engineering, 2011) "For groundbreaking cathode research that led to the first commercial lithium ion battery, which has since revolutionized consumer electronics with technical applications for portable and stationary power."

Norman Hackerman (Chemistry, 1993) "For contributions in electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photoelectrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning electrochemical microscope."

Karen K. Uhlenbeck (Mathematics and computer science, 2000) "For her many pioneering contributions to global geometry that resulted in advances in mathematical physics and the theory of partial differential equations. Her research accomplishments are matched by her leadership and passionate involvement in mathematics training and education."

Steven Weinberg (Physical sciences, 1991) "For his contributions to the discovery of the structure of the fundamental forces of nature; the development of the standard model, and the unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces."

John A. Wheeler (Physical sciences, 1970) "For his basic contributions to our understanding of the nuclei of atoms, exemplified by his theory of nuclear fission, and his own work and stimulus to others on basic questions of gravitational and electromagnetic phenomena."

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

She's performed on late-night TV and traveled overseas to meet Big Ben.

Now 93 years old, Big Bertha still stands tall, booms loud and proudly exhibits a storied and colorful history.

The massive drum is 8 feet in diameter, 41 inches wide and more than 10 feet high when mounted on her carriage. Big Bertha became the “Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band” in 1955 but began her career in 1922 at the University of Chicago.

In 1954, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a longtime benefactor of the Longhorn Band, suggested UT purchase the drum from the University of Chicago, which dropped its varsity football team years earlier.

Moton Crockett, former director of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha for $1 and transported the drum from Elkhart, Ind., to Austin. Crockett refurbished the drum during the spring and summer of 1955 and presented it to the incoming director of the Longhorn Band, Vincent R. DiNino.  

Today, Bertha can be seen in her permanent home in the north end zone concourse of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. For her performances at football games, she is escorted by a group known as the “Bertha Crew.”

[Learn the Secrets of the Longhorn Band and How to March.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

And for the 11th time in 14 years, McCombs ranks No. 1 across all three of the 2014 rankings of the Public Accounting Reporter (PAR) for undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. programs.

In addition to claiming the No. 1 spot in undergraduate accounting programs for nine straight years, UT also claims the No. 1 spots in U.S. News and World Report's rankings for accounting and Latin American history graduate programs, plus more than 15 undergraduate programs and 40 graduate programs ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Ranked among the biggest and best research universities in the country, UT Austin offers students the resources needed to excel academically.

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

The Freshman Research Initiative's proven positive results have caught the attention of other institutions around Texas and the country, with several universities now replicating the program on their own campuses.

Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) comprises three semesters of integrated coursework and laboratory research in newly renovated, dedicated research labs. Students move through the program in cohorts of about 30. Students emerging from FRI have experience with experimental techniques, lab work and a deep understanding of the scientific process and sometimes publications.

[#UTCountdown: 43 research-related events took place on campus during Research Week 2015, and 48 percent of our undergraduate students participate in original research.]

Launched in 2005, UT Austin's FRI remains the nation's largest research program for freshmen nationwide. Around 800 freshmen participate each year, with half of the students being women and half coming from economically disadvantaged and/or underrepresented minority groups.

After a semester of learning basic research techniques, first-year students spend a year working alongside a faculty scientist and graduate student researchers in a lab. Just like the more senior scientists, they conduct original, potentially publishable research, seeking answers to questions science has not yet answered. Currently, 26 unique research streams cover topics from exploring potential biofuels, to programming autonomous robots, to learning how to create nanomaterials, and more.

[Check out these “30 Seriously Impressive Undergrad Research Projects, and meet some of our undergraduate researchers.]

Thousands of freshmen have participated in FRI in the past 10 years, experiencing a range of benefits. FRI students are 35 percent more likely to graduate in four years and twice as likely to graduate with a degree in science or math compared to nonparticipants. They earn higher GPAs and are about three times more likely to pursue an advanced degree.

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

During the fall 2014 semester, 11,790 students enrolled in UT Austin's 223 graduate degree programs, where they work with faculty to change the world through groundbreaking research and innovative teaching and learning techniques.

UT Austin's graduate schools in engineering, law, education and nursing are ranked among the Top 15 in the nation, and the university's accounting program is No. 1 in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2016 edition of "Best Graduate Schools," released this spring. In all, more than 50 science, social science, humanities and professional programs and disciplines are ranked in the Top 15 nationally, according to the rankings

[Explore more graduate school rankings.]

The Graduate School at UT Austin is an active community of diverse scholars dedicated to excellence in original research, teaching, creative expression and intellectual leadership. Using the school's extensive resources and talents, the Graduate School cultivates individuals who work together to bring knowledge, innovation and best practices to overcome the great and small challenges of our time.

[Learn more about applying to graduate school at UT Austin.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

These 12 astronauts are only some of the Longhorns dreaming beyond infinity. One alumnus lead NASA's historic Pluto flyby earlier this year. UT astronomers helped discover “Earth 2.0.”

And with many more out-of-this-world space-related projects, maybe we should start saying that What Starts Here Changes The World (and the universe).

[#UTCountdown: 76 years ago, astronomers dedicated the McDonald Observatory's first telescope.]

The UT Austin alumni who are astronauts include:

Alan Bean, B.S., '55 (aerospace engineering) Bean was the fourth person to walk on the moon.

Robert L. Crippen, B.S., '60 (aerospace engineering) A four-flight veteran, Crippen logged more than 565 hours in space, orbited the earth 364 times and traveled more than 9.4 million miles.

Carl L. Meade, B.S., '73 (electrical engineering) During an untethered space walk, Meade performed the first flight-test of a rescue jet-pack and was consequently awarded the U. S. Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross.

Michael A. Baker, B.S., '75 (aerospace engineering) After the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986, Baker's team helped redesign, modify and improve safety features.

Fred Leslie, B.E.S., '74 (engineering science) Leslie flew as a payload specialist on a 16-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia that focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science and fluid physics contained within the pressurized Spacelab module.

Kenneth D. Cockrell, B.S., '72 (mechanical engineering) A veteran of four space flights, Cockrell took on a wide range of technical assignments, from testing safety equipment to preparing procedural manuals for Shuttle flights.

Paul S. Lockhart, M.S., '81 (aerospace engineering) Lockhart flew as pilot on two Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station and directed six space walks in repair and construction of the ISS. He accumulated more than 26 days in space in support of these missions.

Neil W. Woodward, M.A., '88 (physics) Woodward served in various roles at NASA Headquarters after being selected to become an astronaut in 1998.

Stephanie D. Wilson, M.S. '92 (aerospace engineering) During her space flights, Wilson operated the robotic arm that transferred supplies and equipment to the International Space Station and managed successful spacewalks.

Karen L. Nyberg, M.S., '96, Ph.D. '98 (mechanical engineering) Nyberg has logged more than 13 days in space, and she's tested concepts for humans' return to the moon and eventual missions to Mars.

Gregory H. Johnson, MBA, '05 Johnson piloted a 15-day mission during which the crew performed a record five spacewalks while docked to the International Space Station.

Andreas Mogensen, Ph.D., '07, (aerospace engineering) Mogensen, a European Space Agency astronaut, is preparing for launch to the International Space Station in September 2015. The 10-day mission will be his first spaceflight and the first ever by a Danish national.

[#UTCountdown: In 1969, astronomers from UT's McDonald Observatory measured the Earth-Moon distance by beaming a laser from a telescope to reflectors placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

Bevo XIV's 13 years have been packed with action - he's rubbed elbows (horns?) with actors Kristen Bell and Matthew McConaughey. He started his tenure by overseeing five straight bowl games, and he's traveled to Pasadena, Calif., to the Rose Bowl to support the football team. After learning the ropes from Bevo XIII, Bevo XIV was even blessed by a priest.

But Bevo isn't just a pretty steer. Did you know he helps raise money for university scholarships and tutoring programs at local elementary schools? And he has attended two presidential inaugurations? He may have even played a key defensive role in a victory against Baylor years ago.

Bevo XIV makes as many as 50 appearances annually to help support the Texas Neighborhood Longhorns Program and other philanthropic endeavors. Money donated during photo shoots and events with Bevo support tutoring and mentoring services for 6,000 East Austin children and scholarships for university students.

Though Bevo XIV's actual birthday is April 8, Longhorns also celebrate the anniversary of the first Bevo's debut as mascot and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of having a live mascot next year.

Bevo first appeared during the 1916 Thanksgiving Day football game against Texas A&M. The Silver Spurs celebrate the start of Bevo as our mascot by giving the current Bevo a big bale of hay, complete with an (unlit) candle on top, during the Longhorns' Thanksgiving matchups.

In years past, Bevo XIV has spent his birthday sunbathing in a grassy pasture with his best friend Spike and watching the TV debut of a Longhorn Network commercial of which he's the star.

Long may you reign, Bevo XIV!

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

This weekend, we're welcoming to campus the more than 7,400 new and returning students who are moving into the 14 residence halls during Mooov-In 2015.

All of the residence halls offer amenities and features that help students stay focused on academics while finding a niche on campus. Students who spend their first year living on campus are more likely to attend UT Austin as second-year students than those who live off campus during their first year.

The 14 residence halls are grouped into three communities: Whitis Area, Waller Creek and Jester. Each community has a different feel, and they all offer different chances for involvement, events and leadership. Which one is best? It's all up to who you are, what you like and where you want to be on campus.

[Explore the residence halls and communities on campus and plan a tour.]

The Division of Housing and Food Service manages 2.5 million square feet of building space, including apartments, that students call home. During the year, the residence halls help host some 2,000 events for students.

To help incoming students find their Longhorn State of Mind, the residence halls also house four different Residence Hall Learning Galleries showcasing Texas culture, people and geography in 11,000 square feet of exhibits. The galleries include The Gallery of Texas Cultures, The Gallery of Great Texas Women, The Gallery of American Indians in Texas and the Gallery of Texas Rivers.

Twenty-five works of art are also featured in the Longhorn Art Series, placed throughout various housing and dining locations.

[Be a Longhorn. Apply Today.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

For more than 130 years, The University of Texas at Austin has been a major contributor to the Texas economy. From educating students who become productive alumni to bringing research dollars into the state and creating start-up companies that create Texas jobs, UT Austin is among the best investments the state can make.

As a public university, UT Austin takes seriously its charge to serve the state of Texas that supports it. With billions of dollars in added state income every year - not to mention countless other benefits to local and statewide communities - The University of Texas at Austin provides an exceptional return on investment.

An enduring symbol of the spirit of Texas, the university drives economic and social progress, all while serving our city, state and nation as a leading center of knowledge and creativity.

[Learn more about UT Austin's economic impact on Texas.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.

The football season begins Saturday, Sept. 5, against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana

From the time they leave the Forty Acres and throughout their lives, our students and alumni prove What Starts Here Changes the World.

[Explore career and internship resources for undergraduate and graduate students and alumni and connect with alumni on LinkedIn.]

Our large student body, storied history, strong community and rich traditions have given rise to a proud alumni base of more than 484,000 - including industry leaders like Michael Dell and Rex Tillerson, entertainers like Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden and film director Robert Rodriguez, journalists like Bill Moyers and Walter Cronkite, and politicians like Sam Rayburn, James Baker and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

In addition to providing great networking opportunities, our alumni connectedness ensures that you can find fellow Longhorns no matter where you go after graduation.

[Be a Longhorn. Apply today.]

#UTcountdown is counting the days until the Longhorns kick off football season by celebrating the best of UT off the field.