Casey Cunningham came to Iowa State knowing he wanted to do something in business, but had no idea what.

Through the Ivy College of Business’s core curriculum, which requires students to take a intro class to each major, the Iowa State senior has finally found his place with a double major in finance and accounting.

“The way that Ivy College of Business sets up it’s curriculum, it helps students like me,” Cunningham said. 

Cunningham is from Spencer, Iowa and is the youngest of four siblings that have all attended Iowa State. 

Cunningham is the President of the Business Council and serves as the liaison between the faculty, staff and administration to students.

“What we try to do is make Ivy students lives better,” Cunningham said. “A concrete example is that we did the ‘Building our Community’ event.”

The Building Our Community event was a place where students could voice their opinions on whatever they thought attention needed to be drawn to.

“We found out that one of the major underlying themes was the relationship between the faculty and staff to the students,” Cunningham said. “That is directly where we come into play, because we bridge that gap.”

As president of the Business Council, Cunningham leads a four member executive team along with the adviser in bi-weekly meetings. 

“I try to organize different things and change it up,” Cunningham said. “We have kind of fell into a complacency, so we are trying to switch that up.”

Kennedy Fischer, vice president of the Business Council, said “Casey is very, very outgoing and passionate about what he does. It is really easy for him to guide people to work toward a goal, because his passion rubs off on everyone else around him.”

The Business Council’s faculty adviser, Tara Fisher, has watched Casey lead the council throughout the year.

“Casey strives to improve the student experience, not for himself but for all students in the Ivy College of Business and at Iowa State University,” said Tara Fisher, adviser of the Business Council. “In his many roles he looks ahead to how he can make Iowa State more welcoming for every student — both current and future — and the legacy that he can leave behind. He exemplifies the Iowa State Principles of Community in his leadership and embodies what it means to be a Cyclone by putting others first.”

Cunningham is also the President of the Student Carillonneur Leadership Council (SCLC). He founded the club in February of 2017, and Iowa State recognized it in May of 2017.

“SCLC is a long story; but in summary we are making a mini campanile. It’s a one-fifth replica that is mobile,” Cunningham said.

The mini campanile is the first mobile campanile in the world. Engineering capstone classes have been working on it every semester since January of 2016.

“Because I was graduating, I wanted to have something that would stay,” Cunningham said. “So we decided to start a student organization to manage the overall functions of the mini campanile.” 

Cunningham is also a Student Admissions Representative, and was a past president of it as well. He is also a past president of Iowa State Students for Life, which is a pro-life group on campus. 

In addition to clubs and activities, the Ivy College of Business offers a variety opportunities to meet with alumni. 

“I once met with the CEO of Nike Golf, and three weeks ago I was at a roundtable with the Ivy award winners,” Cunningham said. “The Ivy College of Business puts you in places that you never thought you would be in.”

Looking to the future, Cunningham said his dream is to eventually be a CEO of a company or his own company.

“I want to do this because one of my greatest assets is recognizing their talents and their strengths and putting them in the right place,” Cunningham said. “CFO would be cool, too.” 

He accepted a job last week to be a bank examiner at the Iowa Division of Banking post-graduation.

Cunningham says while he’s excited to graduate, he’s nervous to leave college.

“Although I’m extremely busy it’s my schedule, not like an eight-to-four job. The one thing I’m actually scared of is not being around 36,000 kids or, I should say adults, my age. The most underrated aspect of college is that everybody is your age, but in the work force you have the opportunity to create mentors right away.” 

Cunningham said his work with SCLC and within his college are not the only things at Iowa State that have affected him.

“The biggest impact on my life of being a Cyclone is learning that the community of being a Cyclone is far greater than the degree,” Cunningham said. “There’s a pride in being a Cyclone far greater than just athletics. 

Cunningham said that being at Iowa State has given him three and a half years of countless opportunities. 

“At a large institution it’s easy to get swamped by all the opportunities, but here it’s easy to do it all,” Cunningham said. “I feel like that Iowa State can be for anyone, and once you leave Iowa State you are set on a path of success instantly.”

Although he has another semester left at Iowa State, Cunningham is thankful for his experiences at Iowa State, and has done his best to embrace the opportunities at Iowa State.

“People always say that it’s the best four years of your life, it really can be,” Cunningham said.