Danny O’Neill’s creation can be seen on desks and being carried across campus. As the owner and founder of The Roasterie Coffee, Inc., the ISU alumnus said his interest in his career field came from his high school foreign exchange trip to Costa Rica.

O’Neill will be present “How Baling Hay Prepared Me to Become the Coffee ‘Bean Baron'” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in 127 Curtiss Hall.

After graduating from Iowa State with degrees in international studies and political science, O’Neill worked 10 years in sales marketing. Taking a chance, he began roasting coffee in his basement. Slowly, the coffee was featured in coffee shops, restaurants and various other locations.

As an expert in the coffee industry, he has judged various coffee-related competitions around the world since 1995. He was given “Super Taster” status on the Specialty Coffee Institute Sensory Aptitude Test in 2001. He authored the DVD “Cupping 101” in 2005. 

The lecture is cosponsored by CALS Week, the College of Agricultural and Life Science, the William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture Fund and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by Student Government.