The National Model United Nations (NMUN) is the oldest and largest collegiate simulation of the UN in the United States, very likely the largest in the world. It convenes each fall in a different country across the globe, and spring in New York City and holds its meetings at the iconic UN building on First Avenue and at a nearby hotel .

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Beginning as a simulation of the League of Nations, the NMUN reorganized after World War II and the launching of the United Nations. It is a student-administered annual conference organized and managed in its early years mainly by students from East Coast colleges and universities, with a heavy participation from Ivy League schools. As the 20th century moved on, the conference grew larger and became extremely popular. As of 2009, the NMUN was actually an international as well as national conference, attracting colleges and universities from throughout the United States and from many countries abroad. In 2009 the NMUN, to accommodate its escalating appeal, organized two overlapping simulations, held at two nearby midtown hotels and at the UN building.

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The National Collegiate Conference Association (NCCA) is the incorporated body that governs the NMUN’s extensive business and logistical affairs. For many years student Head Delegates (each delegation has a single Head Delegate) elected the student members of the NCCA’s Board of Directors at a plenary session held during the spring conference. Faculty advisers attending the annual conference have always elected the faculty members of the Board. In the last decade, amendments to the by-laws of the NMUN brought more efficient long-term stability to the program, while nonetheless diminishing the influence of annual student delegations on the composition of the Board. Currently, there is a permanent Executive Director who maintains a year-around administrative role. At the annual spring conference, it selects the student Secretary-General who will be the top administrator for the coming year’s conference and helps in bringing together the full student staff (who will assume titles corresponding to the simulated officials of the actual UN and will convene throughout the year to plan and execute the conference). In addition, the Board maintains continual contact with faculty advisers and Head Delegates, and deals with multiple business matters.

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The NMUN is formally affiliated with the United Nations as a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). This official status brings several advantages to the national conference. For example, the opening session each spring occurs in the Great Hall of the General Assembly at the UN building in New York, and the last full day’s sessions take place in meeting rooms at the UN building, with the final plenary session of all delegates returning to the Great Hall (where awards are announced and the senior staff for the next year introduced). Additionally, senior diplomatic staff at the UN conduct briefings for select simulated committees during the week’s conference, and all delegations—representing each member nation of the organization—receive briefings from the Mission (in New York) of the country being represented.