College of Agriculture & Natural Resources School of Packaging

We Are Growing

The Michigan State University School of Packaging (SoP) has earned global recognition as the leader in delivering growth for the packaging industry. We’ve achieved elite status by providing outstanding undergraduate, graduate and professional education, conducting research of the highest caliber and advancing economic activities for industry.

As we look to the future, the university has approved the SoP to execute a new $37M expansion initiative that will double our research spaces and double our research faculty.

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The Future Is Here

MSU School of Packaging (SoP) leads the packaging industry, advancing sustainable packaging solutions through cutting edge partnerships. This expansion will advance sustainability efforts in the industry and develop tomorrow’s in-demand workforce. The SoP stands alone in our unprecedented reinvestment in spaces and people – no other educational institution has made such a bold claim on the future of packaging.

Built On Innovation

MSU created the packaging program in 1952 as a discipline in the Department of Forest Products to build professionals for the postwar global economy. Almost immediately, industry saw its potential, and by 1957, the “wooden box” program had been fully re-envisioned as the first independent school of packaging with a four-year curriculum. In the coming decades, the SoP would add graduate courses, faculty and laboratories, working alongside industry partners to ensure that its graduates – who comprise over 40% of today’s new packaging professionals – were prepared not only to lead, but to innovate. Our international graduate students go on to teach packaging in their home countries and stand out in their industries. Over 70 years after our founding, our partners are telling us what we’ve suspected: it’s time to grow.

Powerful Partnerships

Partnering with the SoP is an opportunity for a company to elevate its brand through association with the biggest, greenest program of its kind. Corporate partners will build career-long brand relationships with the brightest emerging talent in the packaging space. From their first days on campus to hanging diplomas on their office walls, space-naming partners will benefit from priority access to future industry professionals, educators and researchers. 

Packaging Renovation Phase 2.0 Brochure

CAPITALIZE ON THIS ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF PACKAGING!

To realize this vision will take private support from industry partners and individuals. Spaces in the current building and the expansion can be named for branding and legacy purposes

Key Naming Opportunities

Full School of Packaging Building Addition

Packaging 2.0 will provide the space the SoP needs in order to sustain the current program, grow to meet emerging industry needs and attract top-tier talent. The brightest minds in the packaging industry will walk through these doors.

First Floor of the School of Packaging Building Addition

The first floor of the building expansion will house offices for faculty and graduate students, flexible-use spaces and specialized laboratories for food, human packaging interactions, machinery and paper/poly processing.

New Shared Laboratory Spaces

Our shared-lab model drives interdisciplinary research between SoP faculty and other MSU scientists. New labs will enable us to meet industry demand for increased collaborations and grow our grant-funded research activity.

New Classroom Space

This state-of-the-art classroom will provide tomorrow’s leaders in the packaging field with the latest in instructional technology and flexible learning spaces, ensuring unique brand exposure for the space’s naming partner.

Partner With Us

Individual and corporate partners will build career-long brand relationships with the brightest emerging talent in the packaging space. To learn more about how to partner with the MSU SoP, contact Kyle Cutler, Director of Development.

Contact Kyle

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