$47M Gift Propels MSU School of Packaging Into a New Era

Michigan State University will receive a $47 million transformational commitment from alumnus Charles “Chuck” and Jacqueline “Jackie” Frasier. This historic gift — the largest in the history of the top-ranked School of Packaging — is poised to redefine the global landscape of packaging education and research for generations to come.

The Frasiers’ multiphased vision for impact provides a strategic roadmap for the school’s growth through several key designations:

• Capital transformation: A cornerstone allocation will start the next phase of the state-of-the-art expansion to the Packaging Building, creating modern labs and collaborative spaces.
• Strategic leadership: The establishment of an endowed director’s fund ensures MSU continues to attract world-class administrative and academic talent.
• Graduate excellence: A new fellowship endowment will provide critical support for the next generation of doctoral and master’s researchers.
• Institutional agility: A mix of endowed and expendable funds will address the school’s most pressing immediate needs and emerging initiatives.

“Chuck and Jackie’s love for Michigan State, and for their academic ‘home’ in the School of Packaging, is clear in every conversation, every visit to campus and, of course, in every gift they’ve made, said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.

“It is difficult to envision the future of the packaging industry without the MSU School of Packaging. I am so excited to watch the immediate impact of this gift take shape in the expansion of the Packaging Building, and I am even more excited to watch the ripple effect on the packaging industry at large, which will be forever changed for the better, thanks to their generosity and their vision for the future.”

The Frasiers’ comprehensive philanthropic investment leverages a sophisticated blended-gift structure, combining immediate cash support with a significant charitable bequest. This gift is just the latest in a series of thoughtful, visionary gifts the Frasiers have made to honor the program that launched Chuck’s successful career since graduating from MSU in 1970 and turned Jackie into the enthusiastic honorary Spartan she is today.

Chuck Frasier’s packaging origin story has two entry points: first when he took Packaging 101 as a civil engineering major looking for a spark beyond his standard coursework and then, later, on trash day in the student apartment on Grand River Avenue that he shared with two friends. As he carried an armload of the week’s waste out to the bin, it hit him: everything was packaging, and for as long as products were being produced and consumed, there would always be packaging.

“It sounds like a niche field, but it’s really, really not,” Chuck Frasier said. “My Bachelor of Science degree in packaging was my ticket to ride, and it opened all kinds of doors. It has changed my life.” Frasier began his career as a packaging engineer with GE International in Manhattan, later transitioning into sales while gaining global experience. Driven by an entrepreneurial vision, he founded Dixie Box and Crating Company to meet the needs of international shipping. Following Dixie Box, he founded American Box and Crating before retiring in 2019.

Seeing her husband’s joy for his career — and getting acquainted with the place that helped him build it — was life-changing for Jackie Frasier, too.

“To hear about the fun that he had as a student and how he got out and made a career out of it . . . that’s how I became a packaging person,” she said.

The Frasiers’ initial interest in giving back to the School of Packaging coincided with a much-needed renovation in 2021 to the building it has called home since 1964. “Let’s get it going!” Chuck Frasier said, and the couple did just that, making both the first and last gift to fund Phase 1 of the project. Their leadership and enthusiasm inspired a cascade of additional support from fellow packaging alums as well as corporate partners. Following the completion and ribbon-cutting of the School of Packaging’s renovated facility in 2023, MSU began the program’s next chapter with Packaging 2.0.

“This gift positions Michigan State to accelerate its leadership in packaging education and research in ways we have never seen before,” said Matt Daum, MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources dean and associate provost. “It allows us to build a true hub for innovation, especially in sustainability, and to bring together top minds from industry, government and academia. This will be a place where ideas move faster, partnerships grow stronger and the future of packaging takes shape.”

The Packaging 2.0 expansion will significantly enhance the school’s capabilities by nearly doubling the size of the existing building and expanding both teaching and research environments. The project is designed to meet the evolving needs of students, faculty and industry partners in a rapidly advancing field.

Planned enhancements include:

• Flexible, technology-enabled classrooms designed to foster collaboration and interactive learning
• Shared laboratory spaces to support cross-disciplinary research between MSU packaging faculty and scientists around the university
• Expanded laboratory and administrative space to bring additional researchers into the building, strengthening collaboration and innovation across the school

“Chuck and Jackie’s generosity is a powerful expression of what it means to build futures together,” said Kim Tobin, vice president of University Advancement. “Through this remarkable gift, they are not only strengthening a world-class program, but also helping create the ideas, talent and innovations that will define the future of packaging and sustainability.”

“I hope that somebody cracks the code for sustainable packaging,” Chuck Frasier said. “I know we’re working on it, I know we have the right people on it, and I know a lot of materials are becoming more and more recyclable. But we still have trash mountains, and I think the answer to those trash mountains is going to come out of packaging, and it’s going to happen here at MSU.”

“Let’s make more things recyclable, but let’s also make things repurposable,” Jackie Frasier added.

“I’d love to see it,” Chuck Frasier said. “And we might even see it in our day.”

The architect for the expansion is TMP Architecture from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the construction manager is the Christman Company from Lansing, Michigan. Christman completed the current building’s renovation in April 2023.

Launched in 2024, the $4 billion Uncommon Will, Far Better World campaign is MSU’s bold effort to advance student success, accelerate research and innovation, and strengthen the university’s impact across Michigan and beyond. To date, and thanks to the support of donors like Chuck and Jackie Frasier, the campaign has raised more than $1.85 billion.

Source: MSU

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Packaging Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Packaging Impressions.