The Dunn-Seiler Museum, in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University, includes a small public museum as well as an extensive research and educational collection. The first collections in the Dunn-Seiler Museum date to the late 1800's and our collections continue to grow today through generous private donations and the scholarly activities of students and faculty.
A 1946 resolution of the Board of Trustees at Mississippi’s Institute of Higher Learning paved the way for Department Head, Dr. Paul Heaney Dunn, to create the Franklin Seiler Museum of Geology. Mr. Franklin Carl Seiler (1916-1946) was a student in the Department of Geology and Geography from 1933-1937. Upon graduation, he was hired to teach geology, during which time he helped to greatly increase the breadth of fossil specimens in the department. Mr. Seiler was killed in action in the European theater during WWII, and the museum was named as a memorial to him. In 1962, Dr. Dunn retired and the museum name was changed to the Dunn-Seiler Museum, in honor of his contributions to the Department.
The Dunn-Seiler Museum houses approximately 50,000 rocks, minerals, and fossils including vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant specimens from around the world with particular focus on fossils from the southeast United States. Using specimens, we help visitors understand the 4.6 billion year history of Earth and visualize the dynamic, changing nature of the planet.
