The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or 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. Founded in 1839, it was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It is a member of the Association of American Universities.
Enrolling 31,401 students in 2021, it offers more than 300 degree programs in thirteen major academic divisions.[13][14][15] Its well-known Missouri School of Journalism was founded by Walter Williams in 1908 as the world’s first journalism school; It publishes a daily newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, and operates an NBC affiliate KOMU.[16][15][17] The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the world’s most powerful university research reactor and is the United States’ sole source of isotopes used in nuclear medicine.[18] The university operates University of Missouri Health Care, running a number of hospitals and clinics in Mid-Missouri.
Its NCAA Division I athletic teams are known as the Missouri Tigers, and compete in the Southeastern Conference. The American tradition of homecoming is claimed to have originated at Missouri.[19]
The campus is home to the State Historical Society of Missouri, and the Museum of Art and Archaeology. Its historic center, Francis Quadrangle, is a National Historic District. Jesse Hall and the Missouri Theatre are large performance venues and utilized by the University of Missouri School of Music.