Scott Stene’s journey to Viterbo was anything but typical. Stene grew up in Montana, spending his senior year of high school as an exchange student in Norway. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served in an expeditionary unit in Germany and traveled the world during four years of service.

He tried college after his discharge, but he struggled to adjust to civilian life. He married and moved to the Midwest to start a family. With his training in guitar building and repairing from Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, he got a job at McPherson Guitars in Sparta.

At McPherson he worked on close to 600 guitars, but the 2008 recession meant a round of layoffs. With the help of the Veterans Administration in Tomah, he decided to return to college and in 2012 began Viterbo’s 4+1 Master of Business Administration program at Viterbo.

Working with other student veterans proved to be a rewarding aspect of his time at Viterbo.

“We (veterans) are a unique group that has each other’s backs and want nothing more than the student veteran beside us to succeed and graduate,” Stene said. “For some, this is the most challenging thing they have done and very different than being in the military.”

As a student, Stene took on leadership of the Student Veterans of America chapter, and served as veteran services student point of contact. He worked to get the VA benefits processing changed, started a veteran orientation program, and extended outreach in the community as part of his MBA program.

Now, Viterbo is considered one of the best schools for veterans in the nation, and Stene said he was proud to have played a role in that process, which started in 2012 when Viterbo was named a Military Friendly School.

Today, Stene is a senior auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency, part of the Defense Department, where his job is to ensure that contracts are fulfilled and costs are reasonable.

The most challenging part of his job is keeping up with federal laws, regulations, accounting standards, and the contractors that he works with. In the 2021 fiscal year, he led an audit that saved U.S. taxpayers $2.8 million.

“The core values of Viterbo are a compass that guides the way, propelled by the military mindset, to get it done no matter how challenging the project is,” Stene said. “This desire to serve our country and our fellow citizens works well with the values of Viterbo, and it also works well with my current career.”

Stene lives in Apple Valley, Minn., and has four children, Isabelle, Espen, Lillian, and Annelise. When he’s not doing government watchdog work, he enjoys woodworking and playing with his dog, Bannack.

Veterans Day at Viterbo and the SVA chapter’s first sweatshirts are among Stene’s favorite campus memories.

“I loved coming to campus before classes started so I could figure out where everyone’s office was,” he said. “I really miss seeing Bill [Walsh], the custodian at the Reinhart Center, where the veterans lounge and study space is. He always had a smile and was a huge supporter of our student veterans.”

Stene has served five years on the Viterbo alumni board, and he hopes to build a network of military-aligned alumni. “The goal is to continue to help our brothers and sisters who served to do equally well at Viterbo,” he said.

Alumni who are veterans or currently serving in the military can contact Stene by emailing the alumni office.