MSU Breaks Ground On Packaging School Expansion On October 9, Michigan State University broke ground on Packaging 2.0. The act marked the next chapter for the university’s School of Packaging, which has been estab- lished for nearly 75 years. The expansion will nearly double the size of the exist- ing Packaging Building and provide new teaching envi- ronments, collaborative laboratories and research spaces designed to bring students, faculty, researchers and indus- try partners together. The project builds on the School of Packaging’s long history of preparing talent and advanc- ing ideas that shape how products are protected, trans- ported and delivered around the world, the school says. “For years, the packaging industry has looked to Michi-
gan State for talent, for ideas and for innovation,” said Kev- in Guskiewicz, president of MSU, in a statement. “Today, we break ground on a building, but we are really building is opportunity for our students, our faculty and for an in- dustry and, ultimately, for a more sustainable world.”
Michigan State created the academic discipline of packaging, it adds. Since its beginnings in 1952, the School of Pack- aging at MSU has conferred more than 10,000 degrees and is home to the na- tion’s only doctoral program in packaging, it notes. MSU produces approximately 40 percent of the packaging engineers enter- ing the workforce today. “This is deeply personal for me today,” said Matt Daum, a three-time alumnus of the School of Packaging, as well as asso- ciate provost and dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in a statement. “This school is a transformative place, and now it’s getting a transformation of its own.” Packaging 2.0 is designed to support the work happening inside the school as the packaging industry continues to evolve. MSU graduates help determine how food reaches families safely, how medicine is protected and how products move around the world. Students and re- searchers are also working on one of the field’s defining challenges: creating pack- aging that meets people’s needs while re- ducing environmental impact. “I have already seen how much a change in space can change the student experience, and I cannot wait to see what this new chapter will make possible,” said Dangkamol Wongthanaroj, a doctoral can- didate in the School of Packaging. The ceremonial groundbreaking includ- ed remarks from university leaders, a grad- uate student and project supporters. The event highlighted Packaging 2.0 as part of MSU’s Uncommon Will, Far Better World campaign.
6 November 2, 2026
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