University of Missouri-St Louis

The impetus for a college campus in its current location began in 1957 when members of the Bellerive Country Club put their 53-year-old club house and 125-acre (50.6 ha) grounds on the market for $1.3 million as they planned to move to larger quarters in Town and Country, Missouri . At the same time members of Normandy, Missouri School District began debating the need of creating an affordable junior college to offer an alternative to the much more expensive privately owned Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis . Country Club members approached the Board and the asking price was dropped to $600,000. A bond issue on September 30, 1958, received the necessary two-thirds majority and the golf club was turned over to Normandy on May 31, 1960. A group of board members and citizens popularly referred to as "The Committee of Twenty-eight" began the process to set up the junior college . The group met with Elmer Ellis , president of the University of Missouri . Interest in a four-year school immediately arose. In 1963, the original MU campuses in Columbia and Rolla were merged with the privately owned University of Kansas City to form the present day University of Missouri System. The newly formed system immediately won permission to upgrade the Normandy center to a full-fledged four-year institution. The transfer from the Normandy school district to the University of Missouri System was delayed when the Missouri Supreme Court in 4–3 decision ruled that the school could not transfer the property without a formal open bid process. The Missouri General Assembly enacted legislation signed by Governor John Dalton on October 13, 1963, enabling the transfer and the university bought the property for $60,000 from unallocated funds at the university's disposal.

[ 17 ] With expanding enrollment classes were held in a laundromat building at Natural Bridge and Hanley and in a church basement across from the campus while buildings were built on the site of the former Bellerive Country Club. Benton Hall opened in 1965, Clark Hall and the Library were the next buildings built. On July 23, 1973, an Ozark Airlines Fairchild Hiller FH-227 B Flight 809 from Nashville International Airport crashed into the campus just east of the Mark Twain complex while attempting to land at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport . [ 18 ] [ 19 ] In 1976 Marillac College was acquired. It is now called the "south campus." Chancellors Thomas F. George , Chancellor Emeritus Chancellors of the school are: [ 20 ] James L. Bugg Jr., 1965–1969 Glen Driscoll , 1969–1972 Everett Walters , interim, 1972–1973 Joseph Hartley , 1973–1974 Emery Turner , interim, 1974–1975 Arnold Grobman , 1975–1985 Arthur MacKinney , interim, 1985–1986 Marguerite Ross Barnett , 1986–1990 Blanche Touhill , 1990–2002 Donald Driemeier , interim, 2003 Thomas F. George , 2003–2019 Kristin Sobolik , 2019–present

In 2007 Express Scripts opened its world headquarters on the campus north of University Place Drive and south of Interstate 70 in Missouri . It was the first Fortune 500 company to have its headquarters on a college campus. A second headquarters building adjoining the original one opened in 2008. Three additional Express Scripts have been added to the NorthPark development on the north side of I-70 including an Office and Data Center, Tech and Innovation Center, and Operations Center. [ 21 ] In 2018 the majority of the 5,000 St. Louis Express Scripts employees work in the complex. [ 21 ] George Paz , CEO of Express Scripts at the time, was an UMSL graduate. [ 22 ] Express Scripts, which leases rather than owns its headquarters buildings and other structures in NorthPark, received substantial tax breaks. [ 23 ] Since the move the company has been an active partner with the university including contributing money to renovate the computer sciences building (Express Scripts Hall), [ 24 ] raising funds for building projects, sponsoring a pre-collegiate bridge program for high school students and sponsoring a business incubator (Accentuate). [ 25 ]

More information Race and ethnicity, Total ... Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2023 [ 26 ] Race and ethnicity Total White 61% Black 19% Asian 5% Unknown 5% Hispanic 4% Two or more races 4% International student 2% Economic diversity Low-income [ a ] 40% Affluent [ b ] 60% Close Provincial House, home of the Pierre Laclede Honors College Divisions of the university include the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the College of Education, the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the College of Nursing, the College of Optometry, the Pierre Laclede Honors College , the School of Social Work, the Graduate School, and the UMSL/ Washington University Joint Undergraduate Engineering Program. In 2024, UMSL announced the creation of a School of Engineering that will offer traditional engineering programs on campus. [ 27 ] U.S. News & World Report ' s America's Best Graduate Schools 2018 ranked the university's doctoral degree program in Criminology & Criminal Justice 5th in the US. [ 28 ] UMSL's Master of Science in Cybersecurity was ranked No. 3 on the list of Best Master’s in Cybersecurity Degrees for 2025 by Fortune . [ 29 ]