After 58 years of involvement with Iowa State, one alumnus and professor has given back to the university that he said shaped his life.

Neil Harl, professor emeritus of economics – agriculture and life sciences,  and his wife, Darlene, donated $1.5 million to the university Thursday to be used to renovate the ground floor of Curtiss Hall.

The ground floor will be renamed Harl Commons and will feature rooms for students to meet in, a cafe, and tools to give students and faculty access to technology in the changing world.

“The important point is that the project that has been described by President Geoffroy is directed toward students,” Harl said. “Creating a warm and friendly environment for students and those who have been around for an age and a half, like myself, as well.”

Harl said he wants the renovations to be an inviting place because of the experience he had when he first came to college in September of 1951.

That year, Harl said, his parents dropped him off at an apartment on Lynn Avenue several days before most of the student body arrived. He found the campus to be almost vacant. He said he had some doubts about staying, because he only knew a few upperclassmen when he first arrived.

“I crossed over Lincoln Way, walked to the north side of the Union, sat down on a low bench surrounding the fountain, emotions rode up and I realized I was caught. I had no car, I had no means to get home and I couldn’t.” Harl said. “So, I vowed that evening that I would stay. I was not a quitter, so I decided to stay for at least a year.”

Unfortunately, in March of his first year at school, Harl said, his brother was drafted into the military and his father had emergency surgery, causing him to drop out of school to work on the family farm.

“I thought I’d probably never be back,” he said. “But that summer involved many long corn rows and long soy bean rows and a lot of hours on the seat of my favorite John Deere A. And finally, at the end of the summer, I decided I’d better get myself back up here.”

Besides making Curtiss Hall better for students, he said he liked the renovation project because his calling in life has been teaching.

“I’ve often said that teaching is one of life’s greatest and most enduring pleasures,” he said. “Moreover, it’s a high calling to be entrusted with helping shape, developmentally, the hearts and minds of students. The value of this great university to Iowa, to this nation and to the world is incalculable