Michigan State University Museum

Our mission:

Michigan State University Museum is committed to understanding, interpreting, and respecting natural and cultural diversity. As Michigan's land-grant university museum, this commitment to society is met through education, exhibitions, research, and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes, and the world beyond.

About the museum - the science and culture museum at Michigan State University:

The museum, initiated in 1857, is one of the oldest museums in the Midwest and is accredited by the American Association of Museums. In 2001, the MSU Museum became the first museum in the state to receive Smithsonian affiliate status from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the world's largest museum and research complex, thereby giving the MSU Museum broader access to Smithsonian cultural and scientific resources.

Designated an anchor organization by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the museum is Michigan's leading public natural and cultural history museum.

The museum is a public steward for nearly a million objects and specimens of cultural and natural history from around the world.

It serves as a major state repository for the Department of Natural Resources (biological collections) and the Bureau of History (archaeological collections) and is the home of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program, a statewide program in partnership with Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

The Museum reaches a broad and diverse audience through strong, varied, and accessible collections, field- and collections-based research, public service and education programs, traveling exhibits, and innovative partnerships with Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), theGreat Lakes Fisheries Trust, and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE).

As the science and culture at Michigan State University, the MSU Museum "is committed to understanding, interpreting, and respecting natural and cultural diversity through education, exhibitions, research, and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes, and the world beyond."

Administratively at Michigan State University, the MSU Museum operates within the Office of the Provost, through the Office of University Outreach and Engagement. The MSU Museum also is closely aligned with core academic and outreach units - College of Arts & Letters, College of Natural Science, College of Social Science, and MSU Extension -- with which it shares faculty appointments and coordinates collection maintenance and educational programs.

In addition, museum curators, researchers and public programmers work closely with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Education, International Studies and Programs and other units on campus where its collections and resources intersect with teaching and research missions. A special Science Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives from the departments of anthropology, geography, geological sciences and zoology.