Ron Steele

Ron Steele was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in suburban Maryland. He earned his bachelors degree in civil engineering from Purdue in June 1960.

Steele worked at a concrete construction company in Bethesda, Md., after graduation. He then served six years in the U.S. Army Reserve before returning to the Washington area to work for a local construction company that designed and installed earth retention systems.

In January 1968, Steele, along with business partner Ned Moroney, started Steele and Moroney Inc., a firm that designed and installed sheeting, shoring and underpinning systems. After 25 years together, Moroney retired and the company was renamed Steele Foundations Inc.

In November 1992, Steele's son Andrew, a 1986 Purdue graduate in civil engineering, joined the company and is currently president of Steele Foundation LLC. In January 2011, the company started its 44th year in business.

Among the over 1,400 sheeting, shoring, underpinning and piling jobs completed, the company has also executed many unusual projects, including facade support, micropiles, structural modifications and installing basements under existing buildings.

Steele maintains membership in the Post Tensioning Institute, Deep Foundations Institute, Association of Drilled Shaft Contractors, International Association of Foundation Drilling, American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Welding Society. He is a registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Married for 47 years, he and his wife, Mary Jane, live in Fairfax, Va., and have four children and 10 grandchildren. He is an avid skier and competitive runner and hiker. He has run in 18 marathons and recently hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru.