Beloved longtime UT Arlington professor Allan Saxe dies at 85

arlington – Dr. Allen Saxe has died. The longtime UT Arlington professor and philanthropist was 85.

Saxe began his career at UTA in 1965, back when it was Arlington State College. According to a 2019 article in the UTA student publication The Shorthorn, he was hired at the last minute to be a political science lecturer for a summer course. 

He eventually became a professor, staying at UTA for 54 years before retiring at 80 in February 2019.

A $500,000 inheritance from his mother in the early 1990s sparked Saxe's philanthropic giving, which he continued for decades. People who live and work in Arlington will recognize his name from landmarks around the city, including Allan Saxe Park, the Allen Saxe Garden at the Salvation Army, and Allan Saxe Field, where the UTA Mavericks play baseball and softball. 

He also established a scholarship at UTA for disabled students.

On Wednesday, UTA president Jennifer Cowley released a statement honoring Saxe's contributions:

"For nearly six decades, Allan Saxe has been a Maverick institution—one of our best known and most beloved professors. He was engaging, smart, funny, and opinionated, and his classes were considered can't miss by generations of UT Arlington students. He was so popular that when our university magazine asked Mavericks a few years ago to share their favorite Allan Saxe memories, hundreds of alumni submitted entries. His legacy of overwhelming generosity and kindness is visible across our campus and our region—with parks, gardens, softball fields, patios, and traffic circles bearing his name. My condolences go out to his family and friends—of which he had many. We at UT Arlington are forever grateful that he made our campus his professional home for 54 years."

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