In 1959, University President Elmer Ellis proposed a research reactor, understanding that the many fields of research to benefit from nuclear science "are a part of the University of Missouri's educational responsibilities to our youth and to all our citizens". The MURR began operation October 13, 1966, about one mile (1.6 km) southwest of the university's main campus and the city's main business district. The reactor building was designed by Cornelius L.T. Gabler and Associates of Detroit, Michigan.The architectural style is mid-century modern. The supplier of construction services was General Electric. In 1970, MURR scientist Dr. George Leddicotte gave the first courtroom testimony on murder trial evidence using neutron activation analysis. Four years later MURR began operating at 10 MW, making it the highest powered U.S. university reactor. Ir-192 was first produced at MURR for fighting breast cancer in 1976. The first small angle neutron scattering (SANS) spectrometer in the U.S. was installed in 1980. In 1986 the first experiments were performed that led to developing Quadramet and TheraSphere, which were later approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for helping fight against bone and liver cancer respectively.