The University of Missouri System is a dynamic facet of Missouri, its citizens and culture across all reaches of the state. This comprehensive reach comes from years of paving the way from our foundational history. The UM System strives to uphold a phrase from the university and state motto, "salus populi," meaning "the welfare of the people;" it commits itself to giving more back to society through working together; a tradition and promise that will continue for years to come.
Significant Dates
1821
Missouri is admitted to the union from a portion of the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
1839
Missouri legislature passes the Geyer Act, securing funds for the first public university west of the Mississippi River. This state university is established in Columbia and governed by a new Board of Curators.
1870
The University of Missouri is accorded land-grant status under the Morrill Act of 1862, prompting the legislature to authorize a school of agriculture and mechanical arts in Columbia and a school of mines and metallurgy in Rolla.
1910
Extension division is established, extending the land-grant mission to turn knowledge into public value and provide higher education opportunities for all citizens.
1929
A private university, the University of Kansas City, is chartered.
1940
Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital was dedicated and began treating cancer in Columbia, MO.
1963
The University of Missouri System is formally established, bringing together the universities known today as MU, Missouri S&T, and UMKC, and added a fourth public university, UMSL, in St. Louis.
1966
The University of Missouri Research Reactor, the largest research reactor at a university in the country, reached criticality and became operational.
1972
University of Missouri and Lincoln University established a unified extension program—the first such partnership between two state land-grant universities in the nation.
1974
The University of Missouri Research Reactor updates to reach full power at 10-megawatts.
1976
The hospital and clinics as part of the University of Missouri-Columbia are administratively separated from the medical school, creating what is known today as MU Health Care.
1990
Ellis Fischel Cancer Center merged with the University of Missouri, combining strengths in cancer research and treatment into a comprehensive cancer program.
2018
Dr. George Smith, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia, becomes the first faculty member in university history to receive the Nobel Prize. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work developing the phage display of peptides and antibodies.
2020
After an organizational structure evaluation, the University of Missouri's Board of Curators combined the positions of Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia and President of the University of Missouri System and created the Council of Chancellors.
2021
The Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health opens its doors, providing a cutting-edge research facility for researchers and clinicians across the UM System.
2025
The University of Missouri signs the first agreement with consortium partners for the design and licensing of a new, state-of-the-art reactor NextGen MURR. Consortium partners include the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Hyundai Engineering America, the Hyundai Engineering Company, and MPR Associates.
Former Presidents of the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri is indebted to the innovative and dedicated presidents and chancellors who developed the institution from the ground up in the form of buildings, academic areas of study, faculty, student opportunity, research and service.
For 122 years, a president was the chief administrative and academic officer of the University of Missouri located in Columbia. In 1963 the University of Missouri expanded into a four-campus system with locations in Kansas City (UMKC), Rolla (Missouri S&T), Saint Louis (UMSL), and the original Columbia (UMC) campus.
| Former Presidents of the University of Missouri | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 John Hiram Lathrop (1841-1849) |  James Shannon (1850-1856) |  William Wilson Hudson (1856-1859) |  Benjamin Blake Minor (1860-1862) | John Hiram Lathrop (1865-1866) |
 Daniel Read (1866-1876) |  Samuel Spahr Laws (1876-1889) |  Richard Henry Jesse (1891-1908) |  A. Ross Hill (1908-1921) |  John Carleton Jones (1922-1923) |
 Stratton Brooks (1923-1930) |  Walter Williams (1931-1935) |  Frederick Middlebush (1935-1954) |  Elmer Ellis (1955-1966) |  John C. Weaver (1966-1970) |
 C. Brice Ratchford (1971-1976) |  James Olson (1977-1984) |  C. Peter Magrath (1985-1991) |  George A. Russell (1991-1996) |  Manuel T. Pacheco (1997-2002) |
 Elson S. Floyd (2003-2007) |  Gary D. Forsee (2008-2011) |  Timothy M. Wolfe (2012-2015) | ||
More Information
Each component of the UM System has its own unique history. Visit the external websites below to learn more:
History of MU Health hospitals: