The school's origins date back to 1945 when construction began on Rickenbacker Causeway to make Virginia Key accessible by car. During the Causeway's construction, Miami-Dade County offered the university a part of the island adjacent to Miami Seaquarium in exchange for it agreeing to assume operational management of the aquarium. In 1951, however, the aquarium's construction was delayed following the failure of a bond referendum designed to fund it, and the university instead chose to begin leasing the land from the county. In 1953, the university built classroom and lab buildings on a campus to house what would become the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). Additional buildings were added in 1957, 1959, and 1965.
The school's origins date back to 1945 when construction began on Rickenbacker Causeway to make Virginia Key accessible by car. During the Causeway's construction, Miami-Dade County offered the university a part of the island adjacent to Miami Seaquarium in exchange for it agreeing to assume operational management of the aquarium In 1951, however, the aquarium's construction was delayed following the failure of a bond referendum designed to fund it, and the university instead chose to begin leasing the land from the county. In 1953, the university built classroom and lab buildings on a campus to house what would become the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). Additional buildings were added in 1957, 1959, and 1965.