The University of Missouri-Columbia was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River, the first public university in Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase territory. Our distinct mission, as Missouri's only state-supported member of the Association of American Universities, is to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university. We are stewards and builders of a priceless state resource, a unique physical infrastructure and scholarly environment in which our tightly interlocked missions of teaching, research and service work together on behalf of all citizens. Students work side by side with some of the world's best faculty to advance the arts and humanities, the sciences, and the professions. Scholarship and teaching are daily driven by a sense of public service--the obligation to produce and disseminate knowledge that will improve the quality of life in the state, the nation and the world. The University of Missouri-Columbia, as the state's major land-grant university, honors the public trust placed in it and accepts the associated accountability to the people of Missouri for its stewardship of that trust. Our duty is to acquire, create, transmit, and preserve knowledge, and to promote understanding.

　　密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校成立于1839年，是密西西比河以西的第一所公立大学，也是托马斯·杰斐逊路易斯安那购地领地内的第一所公立大学。作为密苏里州唯一由州支持的美国大学协会成员，我们的独特使命是为所有密苏里州民提供世界一流的研究型大学的福利。我们是无价国家资源的守护者和建设者，拥有独特的物理基础设施和学术环境，在这里，我们紧密交织的教学、研究和服务使命共同代表所有公民共同努力。学生们与世界顶尖的教师并肩工作，推动艺术与人文学科、科学及专业的发展。学术和教学每天都源于公共服务的责任——即生产和传播能够改善州、国家乃至世界生活质量的知识。作为该州主要的土地赠与大学，密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校尊重公众对其的信任，并接受对密苏里州人民对其管理该信托的责任。我们的职责是获取、创造、传递和保存知识，促进理解。