Incorporated in 1967 in PA - Founded by the late Philip M. McKenna, who was an internationally known metallurgist and industrialist, and the inventor of the first commercially successful steel cutting grade tungsten carbide. He was the founder and chief executive of Kennametal Inc., which became a global leader in the tungsten carbide machine tool industry. He was also a renowned advocate of sound monetary policy and free enterprise who worked with many of the nation's political and intellectual leaders. His public philosophy was rooted in free market economics, American constitutional government, and the Judeo-Christian ethic.