Mrs. Jane C. and Mr. Richard A. Curtis

Richard Curtis
N.C. State University College of Design, 1964–1972
Bachelor of Product Design

I came to N.C. State in the fall of 1964 on a Trailways bus, and I could barely afford that. I saw the campus for the first time as that bus drove down Hillsborough Street. My worldly goods were in two suitcases.

Eight years later that included a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, I received my product design degree from Henry Kamphoefner, the College’s founding dean. He retired the following year, but I was on my way to a career in newspapers.

It was while burning the midnight oil in the studios of Brooks Hall that it began to dawn on me just how fortunate I was and had been. Many years later, I find myself able to make this gift, in payment for the help I received. These are the words that motivated me:

​​​"It is rarely possible to repay those who have conferred great favors on us, who have rendered us personal kindnesses. But is also futile to let one’s feelings of remorse for this bear too heavily, to smite one’s breast saying that the time for sacrifice, to repay just debts, is past, for I do not believe that it ever passes.
​​Nature does not collaborate with man to permit simple repayment very often, whether the debt is from son to father, from soldier to comrade, or from pupil to master. We must in the end compose our consciences by recognizing that life is like a large trading organization, in which we may never pay directly for the gifts of true friendship. But pay we must, or find ourselves in default with God Himself, even though we make our payment to someone who owes us nothing, in some other place and at some other time."

​​​​​—Yousuf Karsh, photographer
​​​​​ “In Search of Greatness”