Statewide Reach

University of Missouri System

Throughout its history, the University of Missouri has been the state's partner in the education of Missouri’s citizens and the growth of its economy.

The University of Missouri was established as the first public university west of the Mississippi River in 1839. Built by proud Missouri citizens determined to leave a legacy for their children and the generations to come, the University of Missouri grew from the very roots of the state.

Today, the University of Missouri is one of the nation’s largest higher education institutions, with more than 75,000 students on four campuses and an Extension program with activities in every county of the state. The University of Missouri continues to impact Missouri and its citizens in every county, every day.

Campuses

As our flagship campus, the University of Missouri-Columbia was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River.

Founded in 1870 as Missouri School of Mines, Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla is one of the nation's top technological research universities.

Chartered as the University of Kansas City in 1929, the University of Missouri-Kansas City joined the UM System in 1963. The university is one of few in the nation to have all four major health science schools: medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry, located on one campus.

Also founded in 1963, the University of Missouri-St. Louis is the largest university in the St. Louis region and third largest in Missouri.

Research Parks/Business Incubators

The UM System's network of ten research parks and incubators encourages technology development and commercialization that advances Missouri's economy and benefits campus research.

Research parks attract new startup companies from university research efforts, as well as firms across Missouri and throughout the world, representing ideas in a wide range of disciplines and spurring quality job creation.

Business incubators help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable businesses by providing emerging companies with resources to increase their chances of success. Offering affordable, high-quality laboratory and office space, the university’s incubators are a place where new ideas can be nurtured and developed into successful commercial entities.

Missouri Research Park in St. Charles County is the University of Missouri's first research park and also the first business park in the St. Louis region to market exclusively to technology-intensive and research-based companies. The 700-acre park includes 15 companies and two federal agencies occupying 1.5 million sq. ft. and employing more than 2,000 people.

Discovery Ridge is an emerging research park development near the University of Missouri-Columbia, the state's top public research university. Two anchor tenants employ nearly 300 individuals, and plans are underway for an expansion of the site that will include a new campus of buildings, including an 80,000 sq. ft. multi-tenant building that will include lab, office and potential classroom space.

Missouri S&T Innovation Park, on the campus of Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, will help solidify S&T’s place as one of the top five technology universities in the nation by expanding its strong connection with private industry, as well as provide a location for long-term growth of the academic and research facilities of the campus

Located on 62 acres in St. Robert near Missouri University of Science and Technology, the UM Technology Park at Ft. Leonard Wood provides a home for businesses, agencies and organizations that support or enhance the missions and goals of Ft. Leonard Wood. The park is the first technology park in the nation to be located on an active Army post.

Located on the University of Missouri-St. Louis’s north campus next to Highway 70, the UMSL Business, Technology & Research Park is the home of Express Scripts Inc., one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers. Express Scripts is the largest Fortune 500 company with corporate headquarters on a university campus.

The Missouri Plant Science Center in Mexico is a partnership between the University of Missouri, Missouri Technology Corporation and the City of Mexico. The nearly 25,000 sq. ft. facility houses wet and dry labs, offices and has unique pilot/scale manufacturing capabilities to process soybeans and other plant-derived materials into value-added products. The center brings together cutting-edge plant science research with the ability to develop the manufacturing processes needed to commercialize new discoveries. The facility attracted its first tenant, Soy Labs LLC, to Mexico from Fairfield, CA. Soy Labs is an emerging plant science company including soy-based ingredients for the food and health industries.

University of Missouri incubators help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable businesses by providing emerging companies with resources to increase their chances of success. Offering affordable, high-quality laboratory and office space, the university’s incubators are a place where new ideas can be nurtured and developed into successful commercial entities.

Our research parks and incubation centers are uniquely positioned to help entrepreneurs access resources from the University of Missouri research and academic community. We help advance your business, and advance Missouri by promoting innovation and creating jobs.

• Center for Emerging Technologies (St. Louis)
• MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place (Columbia)
• UMSL Information Technology Enterprises Business Incubator (St. Louis)

Agricultural Experiment Stations

Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), sponsored by Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), conducts research in agriculture, forestry, animal science and natural resources at farms, laboratories and forests throughout the state.

Research conducted at AES and CAFNR facilities is geared to making the most effective use possible of the state's natural resource base, including its people resources, in an increasingly global society. Citizens throughout the state benefit from new knowledge, discoveries and university expertise through AES.

Health Centers/ Affiliates

The University of Missouri has a vast network of hospitals, clinics and outreach services. Additionally, we offer health education paths at all four campuses, including medicine, nursing, pre-medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology and the allied health professions.

University of Missouri Health Care is home to the state’s only public academic medical center, which provides care to people from every county in Missouri. In addition to providing access  to clinical trials and myriad specialists, each year MU Health Care provides millions of dollars in uncompensated and charity care.

The UM System’s health outreach efforts are statewide. Some examples include UMSL’s Mobile Eye Center, which provides eye care to thousands of children and adults. Residents in rural Missouri have access to Ellis Fischel Cancer Center’s mobile mammography van, which visits more than a dozen communities quarterly. And, in Kansas City—home to the state’s only dental school—underserved children and adults receive dental care through Partnership for Smiles. All of our campuses also facilitate various health screenings, checking areas such as blood glucose levels and blood pressure.

We are also a leader in the adoption of medical technology. The Telehealth Network provides those with limited health care access, especially rural residents, with access to MU Health Care’s wealth of specialists.

Additionally, the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation has become a model of how private businesses and public universities can partner to advance community health. Established in 2009, the Tiger Institute is facilitating a statewide alliance of health care organizations that can improve health care through health information technology and collaborative innovations with MU Health Care physicians, students and researchers. It’s estimated the innovations from this partnership will provide up to $1 billion in annual economic benefit to the state. Already, MU Health Care has been named one of the nation’s “Most Wired” Hospitals—the only facility in mid-Missouri making the list.

Small Business & Technology Development Centers

The UM System has the resources and expertise to move you forward and help you succeed.

Sponsored by University of Missouri Extension, Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Centers are part of a statewide network of business experts uniquely qualified to help businesses develop and thrive. These centers provide expert business counseling, training and online resources that assist small business with questions about management, human resources marketing and sales, finance, technology development and commercialization, complying with regulations and saving money by using "green" practices.

MOREnet

The Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet) provides Internet connectivity, access to Internet2, technical support, videoconferencing services, network security and training to nearly 800 Missouri schools, colleges and universities, public libraries, health care organizations, state government, and other affiliated organizations. The comprehensive service includes the MOREnet KnowledgeBase, a collection of more than 125,000 technical knowledgebase articles across more than 200 software titles that is available to all member faculty, staff, students and end users.

Established in 1991, MOREnet is committed to supporting and enabling its members' missions through the use of technology to enhance opportunities for public access, learning and research.

Telehealth Network

Through the advanced technology of the Missouri Telehealth Network, the expertise of University of Missouri physicians is made available in underserved areas throughout Missouri.

Telehealth is a means of delivering medical information and health care through the use of telecommunication technologies. Through videoconferencing, a patient can have a live, real-time interaction with a University of Missouri specialist, almost as if they are in the same room. The physician is able to obtain sufficient examinations of patients by questioning them about their symptoms, and by using electronic diagnostic equipment and other peripheral cameras.

The Missouri Telehealth Network began in 1994 as a 10 site network; today, there are over 200 endpoints in 56 Missouri counties.

eMINTS National Center

In 2010, the enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS) National Center at the University of Missouri secured a $12 million federal grant to study the effects of the eMINTS professional development program for educators on the achievement of rural Missouri middle school students.

Currently, 38 rural Missouri school districts are been served by the intensive professional development, in-classroom coaching and technology-rich classroom environment of eMINTS. At the end of the grant period five-year grant period, another 22 districts will join in the project —  which will eventually service approximately 10,500 students and 240 teachers in Missouri.

Only 49 school districts, nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education nationwide were selected from nearly 1,700 applicants for funding under the federal Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) grant program. The i3 fund, part of the $10 billion investment in school reform in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will support local efforts to start or expand research-based innovative programs that help close the achievement gap and improve outcomes for high-need students. Applicants were required to demonstrate their previous success in closing achievement gaps, improving student progress toward proficiency, increasing graduation rates, or recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and principals. More information on i3 is available at www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/.

The eMINTS National Center is a collaborative program developed by the University of Missouri, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri Department of Higher Education. The goal of eMINTS is to change how teachers teach and how learners learn by providing a research-based approach to organizing instruction in any subject area at any level. Matching funds from corporate partners were required to secure the i3 grant funding. A complete list of partnerships is available at www.emints.org/i3/partner.

Extension Centers

Every year, more than one million Missourians turn to University of Missouri Extension to gain practical knowledge, solve problems, adapt to change and make informed decisions. The MU Extension program engages people, organizations and communities by connecting them to the knowledge base of the university, giving them a link to resources to manage issues of local concern and improve their quality of life.

Providing services to every county in the state, University of Missouri Extension has the capacity to adapt university programs and resources to very different local needs and aspirations. MU Extension provides relevant, credible and valued education and resources on agriculture, natural resources, business and industry, community development, 4-H and family development to citizens around the state.

MU Extension is Missouri's one-stop source for practical education on almost anything. Specialized learning programs include university-level evening and online courses and degrees. Students in grades three through 12 can take independent study courses and even earn a high school diploma online. MU Extension's Fire and Rescue Training Institute, Law Enforcement Training Institute, and Community Emergency Management Program provide education and technical assistance to individuals and families, local governments, businesses, schools and organizations in preparing and responding to natural and man-made disasters.

MU Extension information is available face to face or at your fingertips. And their "Ask An Expert" feature is your personal link to the university's vast body of knowledge.