Missouri University of Science and Technology

Norwood Hall , from the southwest Engineering and agricultural education was a rarity in American higher education in 1860, but that changed dramatically in 1862, when the Morrill Land-Grant Acts passed Congress. The law gave generous deeds of public land to states that created schools with programs in engineering and scientific agriculture. Debates over the Civil War and reconstruction slowed progress in Missouri, but finally in 1870 the obvious importance of mining in the state, as well as agriculture, forced the legislature to create the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla as part of the state system, and a new agricultural program at the University of Missouri in Columbia. [ 14 ] It became the first technological learning institution west of the Mississippi River . Early in its history, the School of Mines was focused primarily on mining and metallurgy. Rolla is located close to the Southeast Missouri Lead District which produces about 70% of the U.S.' primary supply of lead, as well as significant amounts of the nation's zinc. [ 15 ] The school was founded under the auspices of the University of Missouri in Columbia in order to take advantage of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to "teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." [ 16 ] The act endowed Missouri a federal land grant of 30,000 acres for each of the state's two senators and nine representatives at the time—or 330,000 acres (133,546.26 ha ; 515.62 sq mi ) . The endowment said that the land could not be sold for less than $1.25/acre and as such was a minimum endowment of $412,500 for Missouri.

There was an intense debate in the state over the location and number of schools before it was finally decided to have one school in Columbia and a branch in the mining area of southeast Missouri . [ 17 ] Iron County ( Ironton ) and Phelps County (Rolla) made bids for the school, with Phelps County winning in 1870. [ 17 ] Classes began on November 23, 1871, in a new building that the city of Rolla had just built. The college had an enrollment of 28 undergraduates and three graduates in 1874. [ 17 ] The college bought what is now called the "Rolla Building" for $25,000 in January 1875. Following a $2 million renovation in 1995, that building is now used as the Mathematics and Statistics Department's library, chair's office, part of the main office, and other faculty offices. [ 18 ] The Rolla Building, 2008 Initially, the school only offered degrees in civil engineering , metallurgy , and mining engineering . However, by the late 1920s, the school had added degrees in ceramic engineering , chemical engineering , electrical engineering , and mechanical engineering . [ 19 ] The school became home to Missouri's first operational nuclear reactor in 1961. [ 20 ] In 2018, the school was approved by the state's Coordinating Board for Higher Education for designation as "highly selective" in its undergraduate admission criteria, joining only Truman State University among the state's public universities at that level. As such, first-time, full-time students seeking degrees are generally only admitted if they have a "percentile score" of 140 points or greater, a combination of their high school class and college testing ( ACT or SAT ) percentile ranks . [ 21 ] Missouri Department of Higher Education guidelines state that schools in this category may admit up to ten percent of students with lower percentile scores, and will automatically admit those with an ACT (or equivalent SAT) score of 27 or better.

[ 22 ] Chancellors The naming structure for the head of the university has changed reflecting its changes through the years. The head currently reports to the University of Missouri System . [ 23 ] [ 24 ] The chancellor lives on campus at the Chancellor's Residence. It was constructed in 1889 as the "Club House" dormitory, then converted to a room house before becoming the Missouri State Geological Survey headquarters and finally the residence for the then-director in 1905. [ 25 ] Mohammad Dehghani of Stevens Institute of Technology began his service as chancellor in 2019. [ 26 ] Dehghani had previously held leadership positions at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , the Applied Physics Laboratory , and the Johns Hopkins University Systems Institute, at which he was a founding director. [ 27 ] Charles Penrose Williams, director, 1871–77 Charles Edmund Wait, director, 1877–88 William Holding Echols , director, 1888–91 Elmo Golightly Harris, director, 1891–93 Walter Buck Richards, director, 1893–97 George E. Ladd, director, 1897–07 Lewis Emmanuel Young, director, 1907–13 Leon Ellis Garrett, acting director, 1913–15 Durward Copeland, director, 1915 Austin Lee McRae , director, 1915–20 Charles Herman Fulton, director, 1920–37 William Reuel Chedsey, director, 1937–41 Curtis L. Wilson, dean, 1941–63 Merl Baker, Dean 1963–1964, chancellor 1964–73 Dudley Thompson, acting chancellor, 1973–74 Raymond L. Bisplinghoff, chancellor, 1974–76 Jim C. Pogue, interim chancellor, 1977–78 Joseph M. Marchello, chancellor, 1978–85 John T. Park, interim chancellor, 1985–86 Martin C. Jischke , chancellor, 1986–91 John T. Park, chancellor (initially interim), 1991–2000 Gary Thomas , chancellor, 2000–05 John F. Carney III , chancellor, 2005 – August 2011 Warren K. Wray, interim chancellor, September 2011 – March 2012 [ 28 ] Cheryl B. Schrader , chancellor, April 2012 – May 2017 [ 29 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Christopher G.

Maples, interim chancellor, May 2017 – July 2019 [ 32 ] Mohammad Dehghani , chancellor, August 2019 – present [ 5 ]