Mentor, recruiter, relationship builder
“I’ve always liked solving problems and figuring out how things work,” says Susan Simmons, ChE’84, whose first job was assisting her father on projects such as working on cars, designing and building a deck, and refurbishing a solid oak vintage pool table. “He didn’t have the opportunity for higher education, but he had an engineering mind, and he could build or fix anything.”
When selecting a college, Simmons was drawn to Rolla’s academic rigor, but she also felt a familial pull. Her brother was a senior during her first year, and their grandmother earned a teaching certificate at the school in the 1920s. Missouri S&T, she says, provided a great foundation for each of them.
Simmons built a 30-year career at Anheuser-Busch, beginning as a project engineer in the corporate organization, then advancing into positions of increasing leadership responsibility on major capital projects to modernize and expand brewery operations across the U.S. and around the world. These experiences paved the way for her move into senior-level operations leadership at the Anheuser-Busch St. Louis Brewery.
While growing her career, she earned a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis in 1995. She was inducted as an inaugural member of the S&T Women’s Hall of Fame in 2005, and in 2015 the university honored her with the Professional Degree in chemical engineering.
In addition to meeting around-the-clock obligations at Anheuser-Busch, Simmons was establishing a legendary record of service to Missouri S&T. Campus organizations she’s worked with include the Missouri S&T Board of Trustees, which she served as president, the Academy of Chemical and Biochemical Engineers, the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Council, the Career Opportunities and Employer Relations Advisory Council and the Corporate Development Council.
After a very rewarding career, Simmons retired from employment at Anheuser-Busch as senior resident engineer in 2016.
“It was very satisfying to have a positive impact on students while also recruiting candidates with the skills we needed.”
But she still works at Missouri S&T. The most recent position she’s been appointed to is chair of the Kummer Missouri S&T Foundation. The Kummer gift, she says, continues to elevate S&T’s impact on the lives of students, and, through STEM camps and outreach programs that bring PK-12 students to campus throughout the year, future Miners as well.
Like her, many of those students, whether they’re current or future, are first generation. “Missouri S&T is absolutely committed to giving students the potential to transform their lives and their families’ lives,” she says. “I want to be a part of it.”
Helping S&T students excel is familiar territory. Recruiting at S&T throughout her career is one of the roles she’s most proud of; she estimates she recruited several hundred interns, co-ops and graduating engineers to Anheuser-Busch. “It was very satisfying to have a positive impact on students while also recruiting candidates with the skills we needed,” she says.
Simmons also enjoyed mentoring students and early-career professionals; like recruiting, she considers mentoring a process grounded in relationships. “I have fond memories of young people accepting feedback as a tool for growth,” she says. “I enjoy seeing others succeed, whether as individuals or as teams.”
Regardless of roles, Simmons’ involvement with S&T has always reflected her belief in the power of sharing what she’s learned. “One of my mentors at Anheuser-Busch said something that has always stayed with me: ‘Knowledge is the only thing you can give away and also keep.’”