Digital Impact Report 2026

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Dear Moody College Community,

There are moments in the life of an institution, and in the life of the world, when the path forward is not a question of “whether,” but “how far, how fast and how boldly.” This is that moment for Moody College. I want every student, every faculty member, every staff professional and every alumnus who reads these words to feel it in their bones: We are not waiting for the future of communication to arrive. We are building it, right now, right here at Moody College of Communication.

The world runs on communication. Every decision made in a boardroom. Every vote cast in a democracy. Every diagnosis delivered in an examination room. Every story told across a screen at 2 in the morning to someone who needed to feel less alone. None of it happens without the skills, the scholarship and the deep human understanding that this college teaches, researches and embodies every single day. Artificial intelligence is rewriting how information travels. Trust in institutions is being tested in real time. The next generation of leaders in journalism, in advertising, in government, in film, in public health, in every field that shapes human life will succeed or fail based on their ability to communicate with clarity, integrity and genuine impact.

Moody College sits at the exact center of all of it. Not adjacent to these questions. Not nearby. At the center.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

The time given to us, at this extraordinary inflection point in human history, at this college that for multiple years has earned the ranking of No. 1 public university for communication and media studies in the world, demands fearlessness. It demands boldness. It demands the kind of innovation that does not wait for permission and the kind of action that does not wait for perfect conditions. That is precisely the spirit this college is bringing to every classroom, every research lab, every production stage and every conversation we are having about what communication education must become for the next 100 years.

This impact report tells that story in numbers and in names, but let me set the context for what you are about to read.

The transformational Moody Foundation gift that gave this college its name set us on a trajectory no one in 2013 could have fully imagined. Under the leadership of Deans Rod Hart and Jay Bernhardt, and carrying the momentum of interim Dean Anita Vangelisti’s steady and dedicated stewardship, Moody has become something rare: a research university college that is genuinely best-in-class across not one field but six. The Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations. Radio-Television-Film. Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Communication Studies. Journalism and Media. Communication and Leadership. These are disciplines that define how civilization processes and shares knowledge.

And we are not done.

Across our research centers, our faculty are doing work that matters well beyond the walls of any campus. Our students are competing nationally and winning national championships in speech and debate. KUT and KUTX are trusted voices of Central Texas, practicing the mission of public communication in real time. And our campuses in Los Angeles and New York ensure that when our students graduate, they know about the industries that shape culture and already have a foot inside them.

We will continue to bridge our disciplines. We will continue to pursue research that changes how the world understands speech, media, persuasion and human connection. We will continue to prepare our students not just for careers but for lives of purpose and impact. And we will do all of it with the energy and urgency this moment requires.

None of this happens without you. Our faculty, whose scholarship and teaching set the standard. Our staff, who make the complex machinery of a great college run every single day. Our Advisory Council, whose vision and generosity make ambition possible. Our alumni, who carry Moody’s reputation into every newsroom, agency, courtroom, studio and hospital they enter. Our donors, who invest not just in buildings and programs but in the belief that communication is central to all areas of life. And our students, who remind me every single time I walk through this campus why this work matters.

I came to this college from a career built on the belief that stories change people and how we communicate can redirect the arc of a life. I have not changed that belief. I have only deepened it. Because this college, at this moment, with this community behind it, has the capacity to do something that very few institutions ever get to do: define the conversation for the era ahead.

What follows in this report is not a summary of what happened. It is evidence of what Moody does when it is at its best. Read it as a foundation, not a ceiling. Read it as a beginning.

I am honored to serve as your Dean. Now let’s get to work.

Hook ’em. 🤘

Dean Cary Granat
Moody College of Communication
The University of Texas at Austin

YOUR SUPPORT

A MESSAGE FROM
DEVELOPMENT

Dear Friends of Moody College,

What a year this has been. Together, this community gave nearly $48 million in support of Moody College's students, faculty and programs, making it one of the most generous years of giving in our history. That generosity reached every corner of this college: across our five departments here in Austin, and coast to coast through UTNY and UTLA. Wherever our students are learning, you made sure they had a path forward. I wanted to take a moment to share where that path is leading.

Monica and Joe Eastin, through the Eastin Foundation, made a transformational investment of $10 million to establish the Eastin Center for Career Readiness. Their gift builds on career work already underway across Moody College, giving it a named home and the resources to reach more students than ever. Because of the Eastins, that path from classroom to career will be clearer and more direct for every student who walks through our doors, no matter their major or circumstances.

The H. L. Brown Jr. Family Foundation established Moody College’s first endowed scholarship for the Communication and Leadership degree program, supporting 8-10 CLD students each year once fully funded. The scholarship will help cover tuition and leadership development costs, opening doors to internships, study abroad, and service work for students regardless of financial circumstance therein building a growing community of H. L. Brown Jr. Family Foundation Scholars who carry that opportunity forward.

Investments like these don’t happen in isolation. They happen because so many of you, across Austin, across Texas and throughout the country, at every level of giving, choose to stay close to this college and believe in what we’re building. To everyone who gave this year: thank you. Donations like yours help set Moody College up for continued success — success reflected in our standing as the No. 1 ranked public university for communication and media in the world.

I also want to thank Anita Vangelisti. For the past two years, as our interim dean, she led this college with steadiness and heart, and she was a true partner to our team every step of the way. I’m grateful that partnership will continue as she steps into her new role as senior associate dean of academic affairs, and I look forward to all we’ll build together from here.

Looking ahead, I’m genuinely excited. Cary Granat is stepping in as dean at a moment when this college and community have real momentum behind it, and I can’t wait to see where his leadership takes us next. Thank you for being part of Moody College’s story, and for helping open up so many new possibilities this year.

FUNDRAISING IN REVIEW 2017–2026

Cumulative Campaign Progress

Working campaign goal: $165 million. Public launch: March 4–5, 2022.

Throughout the 2025–2026 academic year, that commitment continued to take shape in ways both immediate and lasting. Moody students built professional portfolios, practiced their craft in real-world settings and discovered paths in fields that are changing every day. They learned from faculty who are advancing research and creative work at the highest levels, and from alumni and professionals who showed them what a Moody College education can make possible.

That bridge between learning and life after college is becoming even stronger. With the launch of the Eastin Center for Career Readiness, Moody is expanding access to career coaching, internships, mentorship from faculty and professionals and further incorporating career readiness into classroom curriculums, helping students better prepare for their futures. The center reflects a larger Moody College promise: that every student should have the support, exposure and encouragement to pursue meaningful work, build purposeful networks and step into the world ready to contribute.

Looking ahead, Moody College will continue to innovate with that student-centered purpose at its core. As communication industries evolve, the college will keep adapting its programs, strengthening experiential learning and preparing students to lead in spaces that are emerging now and those that have yet to be imagined. New tools, technologies and platforms will continue to change how stories are told, how communities are served and how information moves through the world. Moody will meet those changes with curiosity, creativity and the belief that communication remains one of the most powerful ways to improve lives.

The future of Moody College is found in its students’ ideas, ambition, empathy and courage to pursue what comes next. As they leave campus for newsrooms, studios, agencies, clinics and opportunities still unfolding, they carry with them more than a degree. They carry the confidence to imagine new possibilities and the skills to make them real.