Corporate leader, lifelong learner, believer in serendipity

“The accident of discovering something valuable you weren’t looking for, better known as serendipity, largely explains some of the most important events in my life,” says Steven Wunning, MetE’73.  

Born and raised with two brothers and a sister in Farmington, Missouri, Wunning says he owes his work ethic, values-based perspective and his belief in education and life-long learning to his parents, who encouraged him to go to Rolla. “The university was a gateway to a whole new world for me,” he recalls.  

As a Pi Kappa Alpha, Wunning lived with men from different backgrounds with different perspectives. He developed solid study habits and quickly realized the effort he put into studying led to academic success. He became involved with a variety of campus organizations and formed strong relationships with other students and faculty, including metallurgical engineering faculty member Robert Wolf, who spent considerable time listening and sharing his own wisdom with Wunning and countless other students as they transitioned into adulthood. 

“The job market was hot when I graduated. I chose Caterpillar because the company’s purpose — make the world a better place to live — resonated with me,” he says.  

Wunning held a variety of positions early in his career with increasing responsibility in the areas of quality, manufacturing, product support and logistics, earning an executive master of business administration degree from the University of Illinois along the way. In 1998, he became corporate vice president over the logistics and product services division, and in 2004 was elected group president and executive office member, a position he held until he retired in 2015. As group president, Wunning was responsible for 40 manufacturing plants in 20 countries, 25 sales support offices around the world, R&D centers in the U.S., China and India, and up to 50,000 employees – including 8,000 engineers.  

Wunning believes serendipity was at work throughout his career. “I picked Caterpillar, but I never picked a single job during my more than 40 years with the company, and I never turned one down,” he says, adding that he didn’t actually pick the university — his parents insightfully guided him — or even Pi Kappa Alpha, which picked him.  

Wunning has served on numerous corporate boards, including Black & Veatch Holding Company, Kennametal Inc., Sherwin Williams Company, Summit Materials, Inc., and Neovia Logistics Services LLC. He also served on the national American Red Cross Board of Governors.  

At Missouri S&T, he was inducted into the Academy of Mines and Metallurgy and is the recipient of the Miner Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award and received an Award of Professional Distinction in 2004. In 2017, in recognition of the university’s significance in his life and career, Wunning and his wife established the Steven H. and Lyneve C. Wunning Scholarship Fund. In 2024 he served as president of the S&T Board of Trustees, which he joined in 2008.  

Wunning says that while hard work, perseverance, integrity and solid personal values were essential to his success, good fortune also played a crucial role. He gives a lot of credit for that success to Caterpillar and to Missouri S&T. “There’s another saying at Caterpillar, that the road to progress begins with a road,” he says. “I believe that’s true, and I believe that the road to a prosperous and fulfilling life for thousands of students begins at Missouri S&T.”