For Steve Willard, arriving at North Texas felt like the beginning of something bigger than himself. And in that moment, he could never have predicted how the experience would shape not just has career, but the way he measures success — through giving back.

Decades later, after a distinguished career culminating as executive vice president of business development at Etan Industries, Steve and his wife, Barbara, turned their attention to the places that launched them. In 2021, more than forty years after his graduation, Steve committed a planned gift to the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, ensuring today’s students would feel the same encouragement that fueled him.

“My wife and I both believe in giving back, and this is one way to make a difference,” Steve says.

Their planned gift will establish an endowed scholarship for students with GPAs between 2.0 and 3.0, meant for scholars who often slip under the radar but embody the same determination Steve remembers from his own college years. They are the students balancing work shifts, caring for family members or carrying extra responsibilities while still striving toward a degree. To Steve, these efforts don’t always shine on a transcript but show grit, persistence and ambition in countless other ways that deserve recognition and support. These students are proof that persistence matters as much as grades, and he feels it’s important for them to know that others believe in their potential.

“The scholarship is meant for hard-working B and C students,” Steve explains. “I barely had a B average myself. Grades don’t reflect your ability to make it in the real world. Sometimes life requires you to work, take care of family, or juggle responsibilities outside the classroom. I want to support students who keep going anyway.”

Steve’s empathy for hardworking students extends naturally to UNT’s first-generation community. Though he wasn’t a first-generation student himself, Steve feels a deep connection to those who are blazing that trail. He admires the G. Brint Ryan College of Business programs that surround first-gen students with encouragement and practical tools — especially the Wilson Jones Career Center, which helps them learn how to interview, present themselves, and take confident steps toward their careers.

“It’s so important how the business school takes those first-gen students, keeps them motivated and guides them to the end game,” he says.

Steve has also invested his time and energy, serving as vice chair of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board. There, he partnered with corporate leaders and helped raise more than $1.5 million to strengthen the college. What meant the most to him, though, was hearing those companies consistently praise UNT students for the very quality Steve values most: their work ethic.

“That resonated with me,” Steve recalls. “I got my first job right here on campus, interviewing with Union Carbide. The people who hired me were UNT graduates. They knew I would work hard, and they knew that hard work produces results.”

That lesson has carried Steve from his first job interview to boardrooms around the country — and now, into a well-earned retirement on the Florida coast. In 2023, he was inducted into the G. Brint Ryan College of Business Hall of Fame, honored for both his career achievements and his dedication to lifting up future generations.

“UNT taught me the basics and gave me the drive,” he reflects. “They showed me that hard work would produce results. Any success I’ve had, I can trace back to UNT.”

Today, he lives by the words that have guided him all along.

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”