Steve Wanders

2019 Professional Practice Hall of Fame Member

Education 

B.S. 1978, Civil Engineering, Purdue University
M.S. 1979, Civil Engineering, Purdue University

Professional Career 

Prior to joining Purdue University, Steve was employed for 35 years by CH2M, Inc., a global consulting engineering firm based in Denver, CO, with 25,000 staff and US$6B in annual revenue. With CH2M, Inc., Steve served in many roles including project structural engineer and project manager, and later in senior leadership roles in staff development, operations, and business development across various business units in the Civil Infrastructure Division (Highway/Bridge, Transportation, and Ports & Maritime). In his last position with CH2M, Inc., he was Vice President, Geographic Manager, of the Midwest Transportation Group.

For the majority of his career with CH2M, Inc., Steve served as its Ambassador to Purdue University, in the firm’s University Relations Program. He recruited undergraduate and graduate engineering students from Purdue for positions in all business units across the United States and initiated the co-op program with Purdue in 1988 for CH2M, Inc.. Steve has also received the Bravo Award in Operational Excellence from Purdue’s College of Engineering in 2017 and the Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Award from Purdue University in 2002-2003.

Professional Practice Programs Impact

Steve Wanders served as the Associate Director for Cooperative Education in the Office of Professional Practice at Purdue University. In this role, Steve worked with employers, students, and faculty advisors in the 48 schools, departments, and majors in eight colleges at the university to provide opportunities for domestic co-op and internship assignments for undergrad and graduate students.