Last fall when alumni J. Lloyd and Dorothy Huck moved back to State College, they decided to make a donation to the Smeal College of Business Administration to help fund the construction of the college's new home.

Yesterday, the university announced the Huck's donation of $1 million to the Smeal College.

"It's great because the Hucks have been longtime friends of the university and have been involved in so many areas here. They are lovely people, and the fact that their names will always be a part of the building is special to us," said Phil Bolda, director of development for Smeal College.

Lloyd is a 10-year member of the Smeal College's Board of Visitors and a University Trustee Emeritus, having served on the board from 1977 to 1992.

"The Board of Visitors is a group of powerful, influential executives, some of which are alumni, who serve as advisers to the dean and other administrators and provide great links to the real business world," said Andrew Krebs, senior manager of public relations for the Smeal College.

Dorothy said she couldn't pinpoint an exact reason she and her husband decided to make this donation.

"We have been pretty involved with Penn State for the past 30 or 40 years. My husband is on the Board of Visitors and he has an interest in business," Dorothy said. "He was in the corporate business world, and now that we are back on campus, we decided 'why not support the business school?' "

The new business building is located at the corner of Shortlidge Road and Park Avenue, and is expected to open to faculty and staff next summer, with student access following in fall 2005.

Bolda said the entire project will cost $68 million, with a generous portion coming from donations. So far, $20.4 million in donations from private gifts and grants has been raised toward the college's goal of $29 million. The remaining money will come from university funding, he said.

Bolda said the largest amount given so far for the project is $4 million, but the Hucks' $1 million donation is important because it is a "leadership gift."

"Largely that is true that we would not be seeing the kind of buildings that we see on campus without private donations," Bolda said.

Krebs said the new building will span 210,000 square feet overlooking Park Avenue.

"It's going to have an amazing forward-looking, active feel to it. It's going to be very technologically advanced ... with undergraduate classrooms, auditoriums and teleconferencing suites, interview spaces and a café. The significant element is a four-story glass atrium facing Park Avenue," he said.

Dorothy said her husband has been in contact with Judy Olian, dean of the business college, to share their ideas about their gift and ways it will be used in the project.

She said she and her husband have given between about $26 to $27 million to the university over the years.

"Some of that has been outright, others in the form of trusts and others are in the form of pledges that will be fulfilled after we die," she said.

Dorothy said, aside from their joint donations, she has also given to the College of Health and Human Development, her former college.

"We certainly love it up here, and are truly very fond of this college," Dorothy said. "It started out as a college to us, and then we became involved and now it's a great university. The leadership of the past three presidents is making great strides in getting this university recognized."