Daniel Steppe
Director of Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
Bio
Mr. Steppe has more than 37 years experience as a successful entrepreneur, having started and managed five successful private corporations. He founded one of the first oil trading companies that integrated West Coast markets with East and Gulf Coast Markets. He has two U.S. patents for technology related to environmental aspects of the marine business, and he designed and built the only marine vessel in the world using this process, which allowed the loading of petroleum products into marine vessels while meeting strict environmental regulations in Santa Barbara, California. He has negotiated numerous long-term contracts with major oil companies to exclusively transport crude oil out of California production and in and out of California refineries. He also started a successful equipment leasing company, a real estate development company, and was one of the founders of Southwest Bank of Texas.
Since selling his last company in 2000, Mr. Steppe has taught in the UH Entrepreneurship program, and in September, 2004 he became Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI).
Mr. Steppe received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering Degree from Pratt Institute in New York and his MBA Degree in Finance and Economics from Columbia University. After eight years with Exxon, he moved from New York City to Houston, Texas and started his entrepreneurial career.
Mr. Steppe and his wife Virginia have lived in Houston for the past 38 years and have two children and two grandchildren. They are involved in community service projects at Casa de Esperanza's houses for battered children and they also actively participate in fund raising events associated with the American Heart Association, Juvenile Diabetes, and Hermann Hospital.
Contact Info
- Phone:
- 713-743-4752
- Email:
- dsteppe@uh.edu
- Room:
- 250
- Website:
- No Web Site Currently
Education
MBA
Columbia University
BS
Pratt Institute