Michigan State University in East Lansing has started work on Packaging 2.0, an expansion that will nearly double the size of its existing Packaging Building.
The expanded facility will provide new teaching environments, collaborative laboratories, and research spaces designed to bring students, faculty, researchers, and industry partners together.
Michigan State created the academic discipline of packaging, according to university officials. Since its beginnings in 1952, the school has conferred more than 10,000 degrees and is home to the nation’s only doctoral program in packaging. Today, MSU produces approximately 40 percent of the packaging engineers entering the workforce.
“For years, the packaging industry has looked to Michigan State for talent, for ideas, and for innovation. Packaging 2.0 ensures it will continue looking here for what comes next,” says MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz. It is an “opportunity for our students, our faculty, and for an industry and, ultimately, for a more sustainable world.”
MSU graduates help determine how food reaches families safely, how medicine is protected, and how products move around the world. Students and researchers also are working on creating packaging that meets people’s needs while reducing its impact on the planet.
“This is deeply personal for me today,” says Matt Daum, a three-time alumnus of the School of Packaging, as well as associate provost and dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “This school is a transformative place, and now it’s getting a transformation of its own.”
Packaging 2.0 was made possible, in part, by Chuck and Jackie Frasier. Earlier this year, the Frasier’s made a $47 million commitment, the largest gift in the history of the School of Packaging, to support the expansion as well as graduate students and endowed academic leadership.
Their connection to the building spans both of its major recent chapters. The Frasier’s made the first gift that helped launch the school’s earlier renovation and later provided a momentum gift that helped bring that project across the finish line.
“Jackie and I are thrilled to be part of this,” says Chuck Frasier. “It’s something we never thought we’d have the opportunity to do, and seeing this project come to life means a great deal to us.”
In Related News: Michigan State University has officially dedicated the new MSU Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center.
The 165,000-square-foot facility opened over the summer and serves as a central research hub for Michigan’s $15-billion dairy industry. MSU’s 640 dairy cattle moved into their new home more than a year ago when new operations commenced, but the ribbon-cutting marked an opportunity for the community to see the farm fully operational.
“We’re here to celebrate what can happen when a land-grant university, our state, our agricultural community, industry partners, and generous donors come together around a shared vision,” says Guskiewicz.
“Agriculture has been a part of Michigan State’s story from the very beginning. This new facility is a great expression of what a land-grant university is supposed to do. It will advance practical knowledge, educate our next generation of dairy professionals, and it will work alongside the communities and industries it serves.”
The farm will serve faculty and students from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or CANR, the College of Veterinary Medicine, or CVM, and MSU AgBioResearch. Upgrades at the new Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center will allow for increased research output and applicability, training the next generation of industry leaders and addressing the needs of Michigan’s dairy producers.
“This facility is going to sit at the center of a renewed constellation of shared excellence here at MSU,” says Matt Daum, associate provost and dean of CANR.
“Dairy starts with a cow, but it doesn’t end with the cow. Our work in cattle nutrition will support Michigan soybeans. We’ll uplift food science through sensory product testing. We’ll advance human nutrition through optimizing dairy inputs. Sustainable energy will be produced through biosystems engineering. All those pieces come together in a living laboratory for circular dairy practices.”
Michigan is home to more than 850 dairy farms and approximately 436,000 dairy cows. Michigan’s dairy industry contributes $15.7 billion to the state’s economy, and the state leads the nation in production efficiency, ranking No. 1 nationally in milk-per-cow production.
The $75-million dairy farm project was supported by an initial award of $30 million from the State of Michigan. Continued private support has come from alumni, donors, and stakeholders in the dairy industry.
