Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate and trustee Steve Wunning has established a $1 million scholarship endowment at Missouri S&T. He says that the Steven H. and Lyneve C. Wunning Scholarship Fund recognizes the role that the university played in his life and career.

“Going to Rolla was one of the best decisions I ever made,” says Wunning, who earned a bachelor of science degree in metallurgical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1973 and spent his career with Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.

A native of Farmington, Missouri, Wunning credits his parents, college education and fraternity with providing the foundation for his future success. “I received an outstanding engineering education at Rolla but also much more,” says Wunning. “Pi Kappa Alpha got me involved on campus, and taught me how to study, live and work with others from entirely different backgrounds. My parents, my college experience and my fraternity all had an enduring impact on my personal values and beliefs.”

Wunning retired from Caterpillar in 2016 as group president and member of the executive office after 41 years with the company. He met his wife, Lyneve, early in his career and they have been married for over 36 years.

“There’s a saying at Caterpillar that is much more than a motto: ‘The road to progress begins with a road,’” says Wunning. “Helping people prosper and improve their standard of living is what Caterpillar is all about, and being a part of that mission was incredibly rewarding to me.”

In a career spanning the globe, Wunning found that colleagues worldwide were familiar with his alma mater. “People you meet almost always ask where you went to school,” he says. “I would just say Rolla, and they invariably knew of its outstanding reputation. This was true whether I was in North or South America, Europe or Asia – in places like Johannesburg, South Africa, Piracicaba, Brazil, and Perth, Australia.”

Now Wunning has stepped forward to provide future generations with the same opportunities that set him on his career path more than four decades ago. “Lyneve and I hope our scholarship endowment will help students like so many helped me when I was at Rolla.”