A PASSION FOR EDUCATION IS THEIR LIFE STORY
With a family legacy that includes two generations of Aggies in fields ranging from chemistry to economics to fine arts to engineering, the Hardin-Zeigler family roots run deep in Las Cruces. One thing that remains constant from generation to generation is a passion for education.
Rondla “Roni” Zeigler Hardin was the eldest of four girls whose father, Royal K. Zeigler, was a perennial student. The family started out in Nevada, moved to Iowa and then Illinois, where Dr. Zeigler became a college professor. Eventually they settled in Los Alamos when Dr. Zeigler took a job at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a statistician. Roni remembers visiting her father’s computer lab when mainframes used hundreds of vacuum tubes that had to be cooled with heavy-duty air-conditioning systems.
All four girls were encouraged to go to college, just as their grandfather had urged his four boys to do the same. Roni loved math and had a passion for playing the violin, but she chose to pursue a degree in chemistry at New Mexico State University instead. “Dad was very specific—he told us we had to stay in the state,” Roni says. Eager to move away from home (but not too far), her decision to attend NMSU was confirmed after visiting the dormitories and discovering the option to live in a suite.
It was the early 1960s, and Roni remembers strict university rules. For example, women were not allowed to wear pants in the cafeteria unless it was the weekend of an away football game. First-year women also had a curfew of 9:30 p.m. — not easy for an orchestra student whose rehearsals didn’t end until 9:30 (luckily the university worked with her to make special arrangements).
A MEETING THAT CHANGED HER LIFE
Life changed during Roni’s sophomore year when she met a young man at a Presbyterian church fellowship gathering: Stephen Hardin. She dated his friend first but struck up a friendship with Stephen as well. “We had an awful lot in common and we loved to talk,” she remembers.
While they got engaged relatively quickly, they waited until Roni only had one year left to complete her bachelor’s degree to get married. The couple wed in 1965 and settled in Las Cruces. Roni’s father liked his soon to be son-in-law, but having grown up on a farm where the work was intense, he wanted Roni to finish college so she could be self-sufficient if needed.
Stephen earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and Roni went on to earn a master’s degree in education. Stephen then began a long career at White Sands Missile Range working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while Roni taught high school. Along the way, they welcomed two children to the family: Margaret and Charles. “I followed the same routine that my dad did,” Roni says about encouraging her children to study hard and attend NMSU.
VEERING OFF THE PATH
“My dad was in engineering, my brother was in engineering, and then I decided to go into the College of Business, and everyone said, ‘What? Check her DNA!’” says Margaret. She wanted to work with computers, too, like her grandfather, and the College of Business had just introduced the Business Computer Systems program. The timing was perfect, and she pursued a double major in business computing and economics.
Selecting NMSU was an easy choice due to the availability of in-state scholarships. Deciding on a major at 17 was a bigger step for her, as it is for most high schoolers contemplating college. “When you don’t have to worry about the cost of school, the idea of an undeclared major your first year feels like a great idea because you can explore your options,” she says, “but that is generally not possible for kids who are working and paying for college.”
Her mother agrees. “For a lot of young people, the combination of the coursework and school debt gets mentally challenging, and too often they quit,” adds Roni. “And if they don’t stick it out, they miss out on a world of possibilities. I watched those kids and many of them were really solid students,” she remembers.
This motivated Roni to start thinking about setting up a scholarship at NMSU, recognizing the importance of supporting future generations of Aggies. When Stephen passed away in 2011, both Roni and Margaret began to seriously consider leaving a family legacy.
DEVELOPING A WORLD VIEW
Margaret’s career had taken off after earning her MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (now the Booth School of Business). She began working in the brand-building sector and discovered a love for international business.
“I started doing foreign travel when I worked for Procter & Gamble because my division reported to the UK,” Margaret recounts. “Then I left to take the position as CFO and ultimately president of Munchkin (an infant and toddler products company), and suddenly I was in charge of expanding our international business and managing several factories in Asia.”
Margaret began traveling overseas four or five times a year, visiting 40 to 50 countries and learning entirely new ways of life. “I directly experienced very different cultures and different values, and I learned to appreciate and seek that incredible richness of being surrounded by diverse voices,” she explains. Margaret felt like the world got both a little bigger and a little smaller at the same time. “It was life-changing for me, and I knew it could be life-changing for a lot of students at NMSU.”
She established the Stephen Hardin Endowed International Travel Scholarship in 2013, awarding one or more students in support of an international business travel or study abroad experience approved by the College of Business.
“My hope is that this scholarship will remove a financial barrier to students pursuing their dreams of international travel and help them be able to say, ‘yes’ to the opportunities they have,” says Margaret. “I would like the recipients to feel their lives changed in some way due this scholarship, but mostly I just think it is awesome to be able to give back to the school that gave me so many opportunities,” she adds.
BACK TO HER ROOTS
For Roni, it was an easy choice to celebrate the life of Stephen, a talented engineer who gave his entire career to safety, research and development, evaluation, and training. But she didn’t know where to start. “I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what,” she says. Fortunately, Stephen had maintained close ties with NMSU and the College of Engineering. Dr. Conrad Keyes, head of the department of Civil Engineering at the time, helped Roni find her focus and passion.
“Education is a way out and a way up—it changes everything,” Roni says. She set up The Stephen Hardin Memorial Endowed Scholarship in 2011 to award an undergraduate or graduate student with a declared major in Civil Engineering or Engineering Technology–Civil.
A few years later, Roni joined the 1888 Society, where Margaret is also a member, by creating a legacy gift to leave a portion of her estate to NMSU upon her passing. “The process was so easy—it took less than a day.”
A SHARED COMMITMENT TO SERVICE
“We believe in service,” Margaret says. Her mother agrees: “Margaret has always had a give-back mentality,” Roni adds.
Margaret marked on her calendar the day her student debts would be paid off so she could start giving back to her alma mater. “I remember that first time I was asked to donate to NMSU,” she recalls. It was the early phase of her career, and she didn’t have much to offer. But once her school loans were settled, she began to think about what mattered most. “I wanted to give back because I did not get here on my own.”
She first started serving on the Business Advisory Council for the College of Business, at the suggestion of former New Mexico governor and former NMSU president Gary Carruthers. Several years later, she accepted a seat on the NMSU Foundation Board of Directors. She is also on the boards of other non-profit and for-profit organizations based in Los Angeles and Australia.
Now that their family scholarships are endowed, Margaret enjoys seeing the recipients make their mark in the world. “I think we all have a girl crush on Nayla,” she says, referring to Nayla Salinas, who is studying civil engineering and completed a trip to Guatemala in 2023 to build water wells, supported by the Hardin scholarship.
“I just hope I can help someone feel like they can do more than they ever believed possible,” Margaret concludes. “If by supporting and serving people when they need it most makes their lives better, I’m certain my dad would be smiling.”