On Feb. 25, 150 years and one day after former Missouri Gov. Joseph W. McClurg signed the legislation that created Missouri S&T, university officials, alumni, friends and supporters will return to Jefferson City to celebrate the university’s founding.

S&T Day at the Capitol will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the first-floor Rotunda of the State Capitol Building. The event kicks off a year-long observance that honors Missouri S&T’s history and celebrates its future. The Missouri School of Mines, as it was more commonly known, later became the University of Missouri-Rolla and in 2008, was renamed Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T.

The event will begin with remarks by University of Missouri System President Mun Choi and Missouri S&T Chancellor Mohammad Dehghani, the reading of a formal proclamation of “S&T Day” from Missouri Gov. Michael Parson, remarks from State Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Missouri S&T graduate, resolutions presented by Missouri State Sen. Justin Brown and House Reps. Jason Chipman and Don Mayhew, and closing remarks by S&T Student Council President Kaeden Kessinger. Brown and Mayhew are also Missouri S&T graduates.

Dr. Larry Gragg, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor emeritus of history at Missouri S&T, will serve as master of ceremonies for the event. Gragg is the author of a forthcoming history book about the university.

Following the ceremony, university representatives will offer hands-on activities from 10 a.m. to noon. Attendees can learn how DNA is extracted from simple sources such as wheat germ, discuss current and future applications of synthetic biology, and tour an S&T pop-up museum and archival display.

“S&T graduates include business leaders, inventors and innovators, and engineers, scientists, and educators who have developed far-reaching technologies – from Doppler radar to the first hand-held global positioning system (GPS) to wound-healing glass – and led Fortune 500 companies including General Motors, FedEx and Sprint,” says Gragg. “S&T graduates also played major roles in the NASA space program – including three NASA astronauts – and America’s interstate highway system.”

An on-campus kickoff of events is planned during S&T’s Homecoming Weekend Oct. 16-18, and events will continue through November 2021, which will mark the 150th anniversary of the first day of classes at Missouri S&T.

For more information about Missouri S&T’s 150th anniversary, visit 150.mst.edu.