Fact Sheet: Frances and Mildred Goad Building

Fact Sheet

• Three-story, 63,000-square-foot renovated office situated on a three-and-one-half-acre site at 2200 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas

• Acquisition made possible by a $5 million gift from Dallas community leader Dianne Cash; named the Frances and Mildred Goad Building in honor of Ms. Cash’s mother, Frances Goad Cecil, and grandmother, Mildred Crews Goad

• Contains offices, educational and public spaces, conference rooms, children’s work and play areas, learning spaces and observation and interview rooms; features an auditorium that seats approximately 220 people

• At capacity, building will house more than 80 researchers, post-doctoral fellows, doctoral and master’s students and research clinicians

• As many as 50 research projects will be ongoing at any given time, ranging from neuroscience breakthroughs, to studies about stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, normal aging complications and psychiatric diseases  

• Will contain the T. Boone Pickens Virtual Learning Center, a computer learning facility with software programs for interactive learning and an outlet for patients to learn to overcome social deficits; made possible by a $5 million grant by the Dallas businessman

• Facility will house current and future collaborative research efforts involving UT Dallas, UT Southwestern, UT Arlington, Children’s Medical Center and other research institutes

• Each floor dedicated to carrying out specific aspects of the center’s mission:
• First floor contains state-of-the-art auditorium where researchers will present seminars and there will be public talks; virtual classroom where researchers around the world link up via video; international reception hall where public can engage in question-and-answer sessions
• Second floor contains high powered computers and data analysis tools; outlet for brain scientists, engineers and technology experts to explore data
• Third floor houses clinically based research projects; here individuals will undergo brain physicals before obvious cognitive changes for the purpose of discovering ways to prevent memory decline; adults and children will participate in research aimed at learning more about how to strengthen brain function after injury or disease
• Equipment at the center includes state-of-of-the-art electroencephalography laboratories that record the brain’s electrical rhythms during cognitive task performance, high capacity computers to perform brain-imaging analyses from a functional MRI machine and a brain morphometric laboratory that measures the size of brain regions to millimeter accuracy

• Originally constructed in 1970, redesign and remodel began in June 2005 and was completed in September 

• In order to create its unique appearance, perforated copper panels and reflective glass replaced the heavy concrete “skin” of the building

• Project managed by architectural firm HKS, Inc. of Dallas, one of the nation’s top five architectural firms; design by Kyley Harvey; contractor was Charter Builders, Ltd.