President Choi’s Blog
Mizzou Chess champions
March 14, 2024
Earlier this year, the University of Missouri Chess Team achieved an impressive victory at the 2024 Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship. It was Mizzou’s first time winning this major tournament, which is considered the most prestigious collegiate chess event in the Americas.
To celebrate their incredible accomplishment, the team visited the Missouri Capitol and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe to have their success formally recognized. They were joined by dedicated Mizzou Chess supporters, Curator Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield and Rex Sinquefield.
In the Senate chamber, Lt. Gov. Kehoe and Sen. Caleb Rowden commended the team and their outstanding representation of our state. Back on campus, they were also recognized at a Board of Curators meeting and during a Men’s Basketball game in Mizzou Arena.
Congratulations again to Coach Cristian Chirila and the Chess Team! Later this month, they head to the Dallas area for the 2024 President’s Cup Final Four of Chess tournament. I know our Tigers can win another historic championship in Texas.
Best of luck to the team. M-I-Z!
— Mun
Cotton Bowl trophy comes home
March 5, 2024
Last Saturday, during the men’s basketball game in Mizzou Arena, we celebrated THE University of Missouri Tiger football team and their incredible victory in the Cotton Bowl. On the court were Coach Eliah Drinkwitz, team members and coaching staff to accept the Field Scovell Trophy.
Joining the recognition were Board Chair Robin Wenneker, Curator Michael Williams and Interim AD Marcy Girton, as well as Cotton Bowl Athletic Association leaders Rick Baker, president/chief executive officer, and Finn Ewing III, member of the board of directors.
At the halftime ceremony, defensive lineman Johnny Walker Jr. was also awarded the Felix R. McKnight trophy for Most Valuable Defensive Player in the Cotton Bowl. Quarterback Brady Cook received the J. Sanford Trophy for Most Valuable Offensive Player. To conclude, we presented Rick Baker with a personalized Mizzou jersey to commemorate the Tigers’ 14-3 win over Ohio State University in the 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Mizzou student-athletes are the pride of our state. We’re thrilled to celebrate Mizzou Football and bring home a Cotton Bowl championship to Missouri. I’m confident that we’ll have even greater success in the future.
— Mun
Geyer Awards commend champions of higher education
Feb. 29, 2024
Each year, we proudly gather in the Governor’s Mansion to celebrate the Henry S. Geyer Awards. Given by the Mizzou Alumni Association, these awards applaud leaders who have made a positive impact on MU and higher education across the state.
On Tuesday, we honored our 2024 recipients:
• Chris Chinn, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture
• Caleb Jones, CEO of the Missouri Electric Cooperatives
• Tony Luetkemeyer, state senator representing Missouri’s 34th District
To recognize our winners, we were joined by Gov. Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Board of Curators Chair Robin Wenneker, Curator Michael Williams, more than 50 elected officials, as well as many friends and supporters of Mizzou.
Congratulations to our three new Geyer Award honorees! Their transformative work continues to make a difference and strengthen our land-grant mission.
— Mun
A great night for the arts at Mizzou
Feb. 27, 2024
Last Friday was the Chancellor’s Arts Showcase, Mizzou’s largest annual exhibition of student creativity. Nearly 100 students shared their work across a range of mediums — including the visual arts, architecture, music, theater and design — for an audience of more than 600 in the Missouri Theatre.
As always, I was impressed by the incredible student displays and the amazing live performances. We celebrated the winner of the 19th Sinquefield Composition Prize: Seda Balci, a master’s student in music composition. Curator Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield recognized Seda on-stage, followed by the world premiere of her piece, “Merdiven.” Congratulations to Seda! I want to thank Curator Sinquefield and Rex Sinquefield for their incredible support of new music at Mizzou.
We’re proud to have such an innovative and talented community on campus. The Chancellor’s Arts Showcase was a moving display of creative excellence.
— Mun
Higgins selected as leader for Extension and Engagement
Feb. 22, 2024
After a nationwide search, I’m pleased to name Chad Higgins as the UM System Chief Engagement Officer and MU Vice Chancellor for Extension and Engagement. Chad is a proven leader who has done a tremendous job as interim vice chancellor since January 2023. I look forward to working with him — and all Extension faculty and staff — to strengthen Missouri agriculture and benefit community health, education and economic development across the state.
Chad’s experience will help us share our land-grant mission of research, teaching and meaningful engagement with even more Missourians. We also have ambitious plans to grow our impact in each Missouri county, and we are collaborating with elected officials, industry leaders and community members to make a difference for those we serve.
I want to again congratulate Chad and thank our dedicated Extension faculty and staff for their hard work on behalf of every Missourian.
— Mun
Serving with excellence
Feb. 13, 2024
MUPD has a proud tradition of distinguished service that has once again been recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). For 22 years in a row, MUPD has received accreditation from CALEA. This year they also achieved a prestigious “Meritorious with Excellence” distinction for the first time.
CALEA is the gold standard for public safety, and reaccreditation with excellence reflects a comprehensive commitment to the highest levels of professionalism. This is an incredible accomplishment and shows MUPD’s dedication to transparency and collaboration around campus.
Congratulations to Chief Weimer, Sergeant Stroer and all of MUPD for promoting a safe, welcoming community at Mizzou.
— Mun
Celebrating 10 years of research growth
Feb. 8, 2024
I’m thrilled to share that Mizzou increased our research expenditures to more than $462 million in FY 2023. This is a new record and marks the 10th consecutive year of growth. I want to thank the strong contributions by our faculty, staff and students who made this possible.
Research expenditures reflect the total invested in breakthrough discoveries from public and private grants. These funds directly support groundbreaking research in energy, medicine, education, agriculture and other fields that benefit our state and nation. Our expenditures are increasing around 8.5% per year, when the national average is about 5.5%. This impressive progress placed us No. 8 among AAU universities in percentage of growth since 2015.
In addition to saving and improving lives, research at MU generates nearly $1 billion a year in economic impact for Missouri. Our success also attracts new world-class faculty who help grow our research capacity.
We’re proud of what we have achieved – and thanks to MizzouForward and strong initiatives like NextGen, we will continue to invest in the infrastructure and equipment our researchers need to make a difference in Missouri and beyond.
— Mun
Investing in student success
Jan. 31, 2024
MizzouForward is our 10-year, $1.5 billion investment in faculty excellence, infrastructure growth and student success. As part of this historic initiative, in 2022 we dedicated more than $4 million to 53 projects that support student success, including a graduate student success center, a collaboration to 3D print organ models, and many renovations and tech upgrades across campus.
Building on our incredible momentum, in December we announced another round of MizzouForward Student Success Enhancement Grants. Potential projects can include upgrading classrooms and labs, expanding undergraduate research opportunities, providing access to groundbreaking technology – as well as innovative initiatives to strengthen teaching and learning.
Proposals for one-time funding (up to $100,000 per award) are due by this Friday and recipients will be notified by Monday, Feb. 19. Additional information is available through the Office of the Provost.
I’m eager to see the impact of this new round of proposals and to support excellence across our community.
— Mun
A Champion collaboration
Jan. 25, 2024
Tomorrow and Saturday mark the first Mizzou Wheelchair Basketball home games of 2024, as well as the growth of an innovative partnership between Mizzou and the clothing brand Champion.
At a Mizzou Wheelchair Basketball game in December, Champion provided the team with branded gear and gave away sweatshirts designed by Textile and Apparel Management (TAM) student Ally George. Ahead of this week’s games in MizzouRec, the Mizzou Store has made Ally’s designs available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will support the Wheelchair Basketball team.
This is the latest project between TAM and Champion. In 2022, TAM students collaborated on the College Vault Collection, resulting in a line of vintage-inspired MU clothing produced by Champion.
I hope to see everyone cheering on our Tigers and supporting the creativity of our community.
— Mun
A world-class performance
Jan. 22, 2024
On Sunday, Suzanne and I attended a terrific performance by Professor Julie Rosenfeld (violin) and Dr. Natalia Bolshakova (piano) at Whitmore Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building on campus.
We were joined by many faculty, students, staff and members of the Columbia community. Professor Rosenfeld and Dr. Bolshakova performed moving violin sonatas by Stravinsky, Bartók and Shostakovich. Each piece was inspired by violin virtuosos.
Exquisite music by world-class musicians on a Sunday afternoon is one of the many things that make this university so special and enrich our community.
— Mun