Michigan State University

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Michigan State University "Block S"
Michigan State University "Block S"

Michigan State University is a university in East Lansing, Michigan near the state capital of Lansing. Michigan State University is known for its programs in agriculture and veterinary medicine. The school's most famous alum may be former basketball superstar Magic Johnson. Michigan State University was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan in 1855 as an act of the Michigan Legislature; the school was the first agricultural college in the United States and served as a prototype for future agricultural institutions as would be defined by the Morrill Act.

The Michigan State University campus is located in East Lansing on the banks of the Red Cedar River; the campus is bordered by Michigan and Grand River Avenues to the north, Mount Hope Road to the south, Harrison Avenue roughly west, and Hagadorn Road to the east. The southwest corner of the university has access to Interstate 96.

With its large student body, MSU has a wide variety of campus activities. ASMSU is the undergraduate students' union. It is known for its unusual bicameral structure, which includes the parallel Student Assembly and Academic Assembly. The State News is the widely distributed campus newspaper. Other important campus groups include COGS, the Council of Graduate Students, RHA, the MSU Resident Life Association, and the Greek System, which has had a moderate but loyal following compared to other major universities.

Michigan State University is also credited with developing cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and homogenization of milk amongst many other recent innovations.

Name Changes

  • Agricultural College of the State of Michigan (1855) - This was the name by which the 1855 legislation referred to the nascent college.
  • State Agricultural College (1861) - After a massive reorganization in 1861, the name was changed to something less unwieldy.
  • Michigan Agricultural College (1909). By 1909 there were many agricultural colleges in the US. The name was changed to M.A.C. to remove ambiguity about what state the college was in.
  • Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (1925). M.A.C. wanted to remove the word "agriculture" from its name, but the University of Michigan opposed the name change. This name was created as a compromise, but M.S.C. rarely used the "Agriculture and Applied Science" part of its name.
  • Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science (1955) On its hundredth anniversary, M.S.C. became a university, but wasn't allowed to remove its "agriculture" moniker.
  • Michigan State University (1964). With the Michigan Constitution of 1964, M.S.U. finally dropped the words "Agriculture and Applied Science" from its name.

Academics

Accomplishments

MSU continued its outstanding record of students earning prestigious scholarships with the naming of Truman and Goldwater winners in 2003. The scholarship count now stands at: Rhodes, 16; Churchill, 14; Truman, 13; Goldwater, 11; Marshall, seven; and Mitchell and Gates, one each. The university has had more Rhodes Scholars than any other Big Ten Conference university in the past generation.

U.S. News & World Report ranks 10 of MSU’s graduate programs in the top 10 in their field nationally. The College of Education’s elementary and secondary education graduate programs have been ranked No. 1 for nine consecutive years. The criminal justice program is the largest such program in the nation. Established in 1935 as a school of police administration, it is a world leader in cyber security, forensic science, and the study of youth violence.

The university's Study Abroad program is the largest of any single-campus university in the nation; 1,819 MSU students studied abroad in 2001-02. Study Abroad offers more than 190 programs in more than 60 countries on all continents.

MSU is home to a world-class Particle accelerator, the National Superconducting Cyclotron. In 2004 a new isotope of the element germanium, was produced and observed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The new germanium isotope is Ge-60.

Academic Programs

Bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through MSU's colleges:

Athletics

Spartan Stadium
Spartan Stadium

The school's sports teams are called the Spartans. The mascot is Sparty. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference; its hockey program competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. There is a long-standing rivalry between Michigan State and The University of Michigan, both academically and athletically. The two teams face off each fall in a football contest which seems to divide the state in two. Additionally, their hockey rivalry has been referred to as "the fiercest rivalry on ice."

Michigan State has been involved in the most-attended hockey and basketball games in history. On October 6, 2001, the Spartans set up a hockey rink in the middle of their football stadium, Spartan Stadium, and played their historic rivals Michigan before a crowd of 74,554. On December 13, 2003, Michigan State and Kentucky played basketball in front of 78,129 at Ford Field, a domed stadium in Detroit.

Administration

Board of Trustees

As of 2004:

  • President M. Peter McPherson (ex officio member)
  • Dolores M. Cook
  • Joel I. Ferguson
  • Dorothy V. Gonzales
  • Colleen M. McNamara
  • Donald W. Nugent
  • Randall L. Pittman
  • David L. Porteous
  • G. Scott Romney

Presidents Past and Present

Some notable alumni

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