University of Tampa officials are celebrating a $3-million gift from alumnus Frank P. Urso, a retired pathologist and Ybor City native whose name will now grace one of the private college's newer residence halls.

Urso, a 1957 graduate, said he is giving the donation because "UT changed my life."

In return, UT will rename the 11-story, 182-bed Kennedy Place residence hall as the Frank P. Urso, M.D. Hall.

After he graduated, Urso went to the University of Miami medical school, where he graduated with honors. Urso served as the director of pathology and clinical laboratories at three major hospitals, and worked as professor of pathology at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

After retiring,  he published a 2005 memoir, A Stranger in the Barrio: Memoir of a Tampa Sicilian that describes his life growing up here. Each student in the residence hall will receive a copy of Urso’s book.

UT will hold a dedication ceremony Feb. 22 in the dorm lobby.