At UNT, grit isn't just a quality our students, staff, faculty and alumni share: it's a promise. On our creative, innovative campus — just reaffirmed as a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classification — we are dedicated to bolstering and championing the determination displayed each and every day by those in our UNT family.

In this issue, you can read about the alums who have capitalized on that promise, carving out success in their various undertakings. There's G. Brint Ryan ('88, '88 M.S.), who rose from humble beginnings to become founder of tax services firm Ryan, and recently as the donor of a historic $30 million gift — the largest in university history — to the UNT College of Business, now known as the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. There are alums of UNT's art museum education program and College of Engineering who are shaping the future of their fields. And there are alums such as businessman Jim McIngvale and ventriloquist Dennis Lee ('86) who persevere in their desire to make the world a better, kinder place.

And then there are our readers, who continually inspire us with their own stories of grit. Do you have one you think we ought to know about? Email us at northtexan@unt.edu.