Harold Engstrom, who graduated from UALR’s predecessor institution – Little Rock Junior College – in 1936, had said for years that central Arkansas needed a top-notch engineering program.

His family is helping make that happen with a $25,000 gift they have presented to UALR in his name.

Engstrom’s widow, Martha Frances Engstrom, and her sons Jim, Bruce, and Stephen Engstrom, made the gift in memory of Harold Engstrom to UALR’s “It’s Time for UALR” comprehensive campaign.

The gift was earmarked for the building project for the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. EIT’s new home is currently under construction on the west side of the campus.

“Harold was a great friend to UALR from the time he graduated from LRJC,” said Dr. Charles Hathaway, chancellor emeritus in whose administration the Donaghey College was created. “He knew that every great city needs a great university, and he was determined that Little Rock, and UALR, would be great.”

Engstrom, who died in 2002, attended Little Rock schools. At 17, he was hired at AFCO Steel Inc. in Little Rock. After he graduated from LRJC, he earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

He returned to AFCO to work, and in 1965, he was named vice president of the company. In 1971 he was inducted into the UA College of Engineering Hall of Fame. He remained the vice president at AFCO until he left the company in 1978.

Engstrom served as chair of the Little Rock City Building Code Appeals board and as the national director of the Society of Professional Engineers in Arkansas. He also was president of the Little Rock School Board during the integration of Little Rock Central High School.