Steven L. Miller

Miller was born in 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri, but spent most of his childhood in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was there, living next to 5 baseball fields and a golf course, that he developed his lifelong passion for both sports.[1]

Miller's family moved to the Chicago, Illinois, area during high school, and from there he went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He chose to major in chemical engineering, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, later stating that he preferred the wider range of education provided by a liberal arts education. He has also credited part of his later success in management to this decision.[1]

During his time at the University of Illinois, Miller joined Triangle Fraternity, a fraternity aimed specifically at those in the fields of engineering, architecture, and science. He has remained quite active in the organization on the national and alumni levels, donating both experience and money. His most visible accomplishment is the Steven L. Miller President's Leadership Academy, an annual leadership training program for chapter presidents.

Miller currently resides with his wife, Sheila, in Houston. They have two children. He remains active in both baseball and golf, and holds an avid interest in American history. As a result of these hobbies, his current office is located at the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park, overlooking the field, and he has served as a member of the board and trustee for the World Golf Association and First Tee, respectively, as well as being an honorary member of the Houston Golf Association. He is also a member and former trustee of the George C. Marshall Foundation. Miller is a practicing Presbyterian, and has served as an elder at three different churches.[1][2][3]

Upon graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in chemical engineering, Miller went to work with Shell at the Deer Park refinery outside of Houston, Texas, in the cracking and distillation operations. He moved on to a stint at Shell's head office in New York, and then in the Netherlands at the Hague, in 1973. By 1988, he had become the VP of marketing and refining, and in 1992, he was promoted to the Royal Dutch/Shell Group Management Team, in London, where he oversaw global supply and marketing operations.[1][4][5][6]

Miller became one of the five managing directors of Shell in 1996, where he started the Grassroots Leadership Program. This was an effort designed to improve the company's operations through acquiring feedback from employees at all levels and departments, and helping those employees develop and implement new business strategies to address the problems they saw. His work in employing grassroots leadership was instrumental in turning around several of Shell's troubled and failing operations worldwide, most notably in Malaysia, Austria, and France – where brought profits into the double-digits.[1]

Because of his success with grassroots leadership, Miller became the president, CEO, and chairman of the board of directors for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group in 1999. He succeeded the previous president and C.E.O., Jack Little, and Chairman Mark Moody-Stuart. He held this position until his retirement on September 30, 2002.[7]

• Point of Light Award, Points of Light Foundation, 2002[2]
• Volunteer Of The Year Award, United Way, 2007[1]
• Alumni Achievement Award, University of Illinois, 2002[2]
• Father of the Year, Houston Community Partners, 2002[2]
• Man of Vision Award, Prevent Blindness, 2002[2]
• Muriel Folloder Phillips Award for Advocacy of Children and Charitable Causes, ChildBuilders, 2002[2]
• Diversity CEO Leadership Award, Diversity Best Practices, 2002[2]
• Executive Communicator of the Year, Houston Business Journal, 2001[2]
• City Proclamation for United Way Fundraising, Mayor of Houston, 2001[2]
• The Agenda Award for Grassroots Leadership, Fast Company Magazine, 1998[2]

• Notable Triangle Alumni
• Shell Oil Company
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Petroleum industry