1989

Florida State University hires Jack Crow to direct its Center for Materials Research and Technology. Crow, Don Parkin of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Neil Sullivan of the University of Florida in Gainesville collaborate on a proposal for a new national magnet lab to be operated collaboratively by the three institutions and headquartered at FSU.

1990

August The National Science Board awards the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory to the consortium, shocking the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which had operated the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Francis Bitter National Magnet Lab for 25 years. September NSF awards the first operating grant, $60 million over five years (magnets, infrastructure put in place first four years).

1992	April The Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos acquires its first magnet: a 50-tesla short-pulse magnet. June The first class of undergraduates participates in Minority Scholars Program, which eventually becomes Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.

1993

May The Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos launches its scientific user program The first two superconducting magnets are commissioned at the FSU branch; James Brooks (then of Boston University and now a professor at FSU and member of the lab's Condensed Matter Science group) is the first user. September Final construction and renovation is completed.

1994

June The first MagLab-engineered and -built resistive magnet is installed and successfully tested. At 27 tesla, it sets a new world record. First to do research in the magnet is FSU physics professor Bill Moulton. September NSF's Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Program awards $5 million to the Magnet Lab to develop an FT-ICR-Mass Spectrometry Facility. FSU chemistry professor Alan Marshall is named director. The state of Florida matches with $2 million to acquire high-field superconducting magnets. October The lab is dedicated; Vice-President Al Gore delivers the keynote speech and the lab holds its first Open House, which becomes a popular annual event. High B/T Facility at the University of Florida is completed for user operation.

1995

March MagLab engineers produce a 30-tesla resistive magnet – breaking lab's previous record with the invention of new "Florida Bitter" magnet technology and tying the world record for highest magnetic fields set at MIT. July MagLab engineers produce 24-tesla high-homogeneity magnet, eclipsing the mark previously held by the Grenoble, France magnet lab. September The MagLab installs a world-record 9.4-tesla ion cyclotron resonance magnet system and a world-record high resolution electron magnetic resonance spectrometer of 17 tesla.

1996	February MagLab engineers complete a 33-tesla resistive magnet, breaking their own record. March The second operating grant is awarded: $87.8 million over five years.

1997	June MagLab engineers complete a resistive magnet for use on the International Space Station. November MagLab engineers install a 30-tesla magnet in Tsukuba, Japan – the highest field resistive magnet in Asia.

1998

February MagLab engineers complete 25-tesla magnet with 12 parts per million (ppm) homogeneity over a 10-mm diameter spherical volume, surpassing their own 24-tesla mark in both field intensity and uniformity. June MagLab engineers complete a 20-tesla magnet with the largest bore in the world: 195 mm. August A powerful 60-tesla, long-pulse magnet is dedicated at the Pulsed Field Facility. October The Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) user program debuts at the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute.

1999

June The Research Experiences for Teachers program debuts. MagLab engineers complete the highest field 50-mm bore magnet in the world with completion of the 27-tesla system. August The FT-ICR Facility grant is renewed at $5.8 million through 2004. October The new Experiment Hall opens at the Pulsed Field Facility. December The world's strongest magnet – the 45-tesla hybrid – reaches full field and is commissioned for user service, earning a certification from the Guinness Book of World Records.

2000

July The Pulsed Field Facility's 60-tesla long-pulse magnet ruptures 15 months after its research debut due to unusually low fracture toughness in construction material. (Since rebuilt, it serves the pulsed magnet user program once again.) Center for Advanced Power Systems – a collaborative effort among FSU, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, the Magnet Lab, and industrial partners – is established with a $10.9 million grant from the Office of Naval Research.

2001

April A third operating grant is awarded, $171 million over seven years (extends original five-year grant by two years). May AMRIS is awarded a $5.2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop new radio frequency (RF) coils for nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging. October The Lab's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance program is awarded an $8 million NIH grant.

2003	April The highest field resistive magnet in Europe is completed in collaboration with Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands): 33 tesla.

2004

February Greg Boebinger becomes the second director of the Magnet Lab. April The Florida Legislature allocates $10 million for infrastructure upgrades at the FSU and UF branches of the Magnet Lab. June The Magnet Lab is awarded a $1.8 million NSF grant for conceptual and engineering design of a revolutionary Series Connected Hybrid magnet system. September A 14.5-tesla ICR magnet system – the highest field ICR system in the world – is commissioned for research. Jack Crow passes away.

2005

April Tests are completed on a 31-tesla magnet with a 50-mm experimental space – the highest field resistive magnet with a bore of its size in the world. July A 900 megahertz ultra-wide-bore magnet for nuclear magnetic resonance, engineered and built at the MagLab, is commissioned. The world-record 600 MHz triple resonance 1-mm high temperature superconducting NMR probe is installed at UF's AMRIS facility. August The Magnet Lab is awarded a $1.8 million grant for concept and engineering design of a free electron laser light source for high magnetic field research. October The Applied Superconductivity Center at the University of Wisconsin moves to the Magnet Lab at FSU. December A MagLab-engineered 35-tesla resistive magnet is commissioned, setting a new world record for a continuous field electromagnet.

2006

February The National Science Board says it will accept a renewal proposal from the MagLab rather than compete the award. August MagLab engineers complete a new high-homogeneity magnet providing 28 tesla, eclipsing their previous mark of 25 tesla. September The NSF awards the MagLab $11.7 million to build the next-generation Series Connected Hybrid magnet. October Los Alamos Pulsed Field Facility's 100-tesla multi-shot magnet commissioned for user operation at 85 tesla.

2007

April The Helmholtz Centre Berlin contracts with the Magnet Lab to build an $8.7 million high-field magnet for neutron scattering. July The Magnet Lab and industry partner SuperPower collaborate to set a new world record for magnetic field created by a superconducting magnet: 26.8 tesla. The world-record magnet's test coil is wound with well-known high-temperature superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO).

2008

July Scientists with the lab's ICR program license petroleum analysis software to Sierra Analytics, advancing the emerging field of petroleomics. September A small test coil made from the superconducting material yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) achieves 33.8 tesla at a current of 325 amps, setting a new record for field strength and current density. October MagLab engineers construct a bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) 2212 round wire test coil that achieves 32 tesla, demonstrating that there is a second superconductor capable of reaching fields higher than 30 tesla.

2009

February More than 5,500 people attend the annual Open House, setting a new record for attendance. June MagLab launches standing public tours the third Wednesday of each month. July First two experiments completed in the 85-T multi-shot magnet, providing users 110 pulses at 85 T. YBCO test coil reaches 27.4 T, another record for magnetic field strength generated by a superconductor. October NSF and FSU award the lab $3 million to build a 32-T, all superconducting magnet made with YBCO superconductor. December NSF awards $15 million to purchase a state-of-the-art, 21-T superconducting magnet system for the lab's ICR user program.

2010

January MagLab reclaims world record for highest field resistive magnet by improving the stacking pattern of bitter plates to reach 36.2 T. February Open House attendance tops 5,700 visitors, a new record. May At the MagLab's Gainesvill labs, researchers identify a new benefit of the vitamin folate. Their findings represent the first new role for folate in more than a decade.

2011

June The largest New Mexico wildfire in history causes staff at the MagLab's Los Alamos lab to evacuate on June 27. The lab reopens on July 7. July MagLab debuts its new world-record setting 25 tesla Magnet System. August MagLab researchers at the Los Alamos National Lab create the highest nondestructive magnetic field in the world at 97.4 tesla. October The MagLab sets another world record by creating a 35.4 tesla magnetic field using a superconducting-insert magnet.

2012

March MagLab researchers at Los Alamos National Lab set a new world record of 100.75 tesla using a multishot magnet. July The National Science Board (NSB) awards a 5-year renewal grant to the MagLab. A team led by MagLab scientists and FSU researchers solves the mystery of how buckyballs form. September Physicist Eric Palm becomes the MagLab's first Deputy Lab Director.