The University of Missouri System is an American state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, and ten research and technology parks. Over 61,500 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses. The health care system operates several hospitals and clinics in central Missouri, while the extension program provides distance learning and other educational initiatives statewide.
Timothy James Pawlenty is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, and as House Majority Leader from 1999 to 2003. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2012 presidential election.
Robert Lee Holden Jr. is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Missouri state treasurer from 1993 to 2001 and represented the 136th district in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989. Since leaving public office, Holden has worked at Webster University, where he founded the Holden Public Policy Forum, and serves as the president and chairman of the United States Heartland China Association.
Melvin Eugene Carnahan was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000. Carnahan was a Democrat and held various positions in government.
Kenny Charles Hulshof is an American politician and lawyer who represented Missouri's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of Missouri in the 2008 election.
Gary D. Forsee was the chairman and chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel Corporation (2003–2007), and president of the University of Missouri System from 2007 to 2011. Forsee resides in Columbia, Missouri, the headquarters of the UM System.
Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reelected in 2012. Prior to his tenure as Missouri Governor, he served as the 40th Missouri Attorney General from 1993 to 2009. After leaving public office he joined the Dowd Bennett law firm in St. Louis. As of early 2024, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as the governor of Missouri.
Walter Williams was an American journalist and educator. He founded the world's first journalism school at the University of Missouri, and later served as the university's president. An internationalist, he promoted the ideals of journalism globally and is often referred to as "The Father of Journalism Education".
Steven Tilley is a lobbyist and former Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives. He represented District 106 in the Missouri House of Representatives. A Republican, Tilley was elected to the House in November 2004. He became the Majority leader in January 2008. On August 13, 2012 Tilley resigned from the Missouri House of Representatives.
The University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, was established in 1839. This later expanded to the statewide University of Missouri System.
The Columbia Missourian is a digital-first newspaper based in Columbia, Missouri, published online seven days a week and in print five days a week. The newspaper is affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism, and is owned as a 501c3 non-profit under the Missourian Publishing Association. Students enrolled in staff classes produce the newspaper, which is managed by working professionals who also serve as professors.
Stephen Webber is the former Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party. Webber served as a Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2016, representing the 46th District in central Missouri. Before taking office, Webber served two tours of duty in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps. He resides in Columbia. Webber was a potential candidate for Missouri governor but did not enter the race.
Richard Bowen Loftin, better known as R. Bowen Loftin, is an American academic and physicist who was the 22nd Chancellor of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Prior to his appointment as chancellor, he served as the 24th president of Texas A&M University.
The University of Missouri is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1908 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity."
Avis Green Tucker owned The Daily Star-Journal in Warrensburg, Missouri from 1947 to 2007.
Steve Owens is an attorney and higher education leader. After serving in private practice with a large Kansas City--based law firm, he joined the University of Missouri System as General Counsel 2008. The UM System, headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, includes four doctoral granting public research universities and a fully integrated academic medical center. He served as Interim President of the UM System from January 2011 to February 2012 and then returned to his previous position as General Counsel. Later, he was named Interim Chancellor of the System’s flagship university, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and served in that position from November 2013 to February 2014 after which he again returned to his previous position as General Counsel.
The 2015 Missouri Tigers football team represented the University of Missouri in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It marked the Tigers' fourth season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in the Eastern Division. The team played its home games at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. They were led by 15th year head coach Gary Pinkel, in what would be his last season as the team's head coach.
In 2015, a series of protests at the University of Missouri related to race, workplace benefits, and leadership resulted in the resignations of the president of the University of Missouri System and the chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus. The moves came after a series of events that included a hunger strike by a student and a boycott by the football team. The movement was primarily led by a student group named Concerned Student 1950, referencing the first year black students were allowed to enroll in the university. The movement and protests were documented in two films, one made by MU student journalists and the other, 2 Fists Up, by Spike Lee. While it is alleged that bad publicity from the protests has led to dropping enrollment and cutbacks, others have cited budget cuts issued from the state legislature.
The School of Music is an academic division of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Its focus is the study of music, awarding baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees as part of the College of Arts and Science. The institution's programs encompass composition, performance, conducting, music education, music history, musical theatre and musicology. Established in 1917 as the Department of Music, the school continues to play a prominent role in the cultural life of Missouri and is located in the Sinquefield Music Center, on the university's flagship campus in Downtown Columbia. The Fine Arts Building also houses classrooms, studios, and a recital hall. Its major performance venues are Jesse Hall, the Missouri Theatre, and Whitmore Recital Hall. The Missouri Tigers marching band, Marching Mizzou, performs at Faurot Field for Southeastern Conference football games. The school's ensembles have performed worldwide and can be heard weekly on the university's own KMUC 90.5 FM Classical, Mid-Missouri's classical music radio station. Alumni include singers Sheryl Crow and Neal Boyd, Canadian Brass founder Gene Watts, and jazz artist Mike Metheny.
The Board of Curators of the University of Missouri is a body consisting of nine members that governs the University of Missouri System, four state universities in the U.S. state of Missouri. In addition to these four universities, it also supervises and coordinates University of Missouri Health Care, the University of Missouri Extension, and a number of research locations across the state. Refer to the list of colleges and universities for details on the individual schools.
