The beach, the sun and the deep, blue sea sound like the perfect place for vacationing and partying, but for the students and faculty of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), it is also a place of academia.
Formally established in 1943 as the University of Miami Marine Laboratory, the founding research facility was located on a boathouse in Miami Beach. It would take several years and many transitional locations, including a converted apartment building in Coral Gables, before RSMAS acquired permanent residence on the Virginia Keys in Key Biscayne in 1953.
In 1961, the name was changed to the Institute of Marine Science. After Dorothy and Lewis Rosenstiel made a donation of $8.8 million in 1969, the institute was renamed the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and converted into a school.