Born in the small coal mining community of Blythedale, he excelled in both basketball and baseball. These abilities along with credible academic abilities allowed him to gain an academic/athletic scholarship to Waynesburg College, now known as Waynesburg University. In 1962, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and immediately went to work for TRW as a technician in the Metallurgical/Chemical Engineering department.

This exposure whetted his appetite for his aerospace journey by working on top secret space programs. In 1964, he was afforded the opportunity to again work in a research environment dealing with armor piercing projectiles at the Erie Ordinance Proving Grounds in Port Clinton, OH. In 1966, he returned to Cleveland and was enrolled in a TRW fast-paced management training program under the TRW Inc. Harvard umbrella.

After completing the TRW Inc. Harvard program, Cunningham concentrated his efforts in the human resource management arena. He took on various HR positions within TRW Inc. from supervision to the Director of Human Resources for the Power Accessories Division with annual sales of $60 million. In his role as Director of Human Resources, he was responsible for hiring, motivating and retaining valued human capital. The position also required him to negotiate contracts with over 15 national and independent unions representing over 2,500 employees. He served as an arbitrator for disputes arising between TRW Inc. and TRW independent workers alliance unions in New York and Pennsylvania. During this same period of time, he earned a Masters of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance from Baldwin Wallace College.

In late September 1985, TRW announced that its aircraft components business group including the Power Accessories Division known as PAD was for sale. PAD was the only profitable portion of the aircraft components group due to its unique design of aircraft fuel pumps and its control of 80% of the free world aircraft market. By June of 1986, the Prudential Life Insurance Company and the Senior PAD staff which included Cunningham entered into a leveraged situation. Final negotiations between TRW and the group culminated in the signing of a deal on October 20,1986, at TRW.s corporate headquarters. Cunningham became an owner of the newly formed Argo-Tech Company and was immediately appointed the Vice President of Human Resources. He now had a piece of the rock. As Vice President of Human Resources, he and the staff grew the business to $200 million in sales consisting of eight locations. He retired in October 2005 and continued as a consultant with the company for another year.

Cunningham is a founding member and an active participant in the Junior Golf Association of Greater Cleveland, an association that provides opportunities including scholarships to African-American youth.

He has been married to his wife Fatima for 42 years. He has three children and four grandchildren. His hobbies include fishing, golfing, reading mystery novels and travelling.