Steven L. Miller
Encyclopedia
Steven L. Miller is a businessman who has been a prominent leader in the American oil industry, serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President, and C.E.O. of Shell Oil Company
from 1999 to his retirement in 2002. A native of Kansas City, Missouri
, he was born in 1945, and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 1967. He currently resides in Houston, Texas, where he promotes volunteer work through his company, SLM Discovery Ventures.
. It was there, living next to 5 baseball fields and a golf course, that he developed his lifelong passion for both sports.
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.
During his time at the University of Illinois, Miller joined Triangle Fraternity
, an organization 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.
Mr. 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. Mr. Miller is a practicing Presbyterian, and has served as an Elder at three different churches.
, 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.
Mr. 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.
Because of his success with grassroots leadership, Mr. Miller became the President, C.E.O., 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.
Mr. Miller's other philanthropic efforts include serving as a Trustee and Chairman of the Board for the United Way of Texas Gulf Coast from 2003 to 2005, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Points of Light Foundation, one of America's leading volunteer organizations. He has also been on the Board of Directors of the America's Promise Alliance, which aims to reduce dropout rates, since 2002, served as Chairman of the Center for Houston's Future, and a Director of the National Urban League
.
Additionally, Mr. Miller has remained active in the business community, serving on the boards of Applied Materials
, a semiconductor
wafer fabrication company in Santa Clara, California
(1999-2005), and Reliant Energy
in Houston (2003-present); and as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Houston Partnership (2002), Momentum Bio Ventures, Inc. (2003-2004). In 2003 and 2004, he chaired CEO Diversity Initiative for Diversity Best Practices in Washington, D.C., and is a former member of the Business Roundtable
and National Petroleum Council
. He has also served on the Texas Governor's Business Council and as a Director for the American Petroleum Institute
.
In the academic world too, Mr. Miller has made his share of contributions. He has been a Director, Chairman of the Board, and Trustee of the University of Illinois Foundation, coordinating alumni fundraising efforts for his alma mater, and is a Senior Member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He has also been very involved at Rice University
, serving on the Board of Trustees, as well as the Board of Advisors for their James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
from 1999 to his retirement in 2002. A native of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, he was born in 1945, and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1967. He currently resides in Houston, Texas, where he promotes volunteer work through his company, SLM Discovery Ventures.
Early & Personal Life
Steven Miller was born in 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri, but spent most of his childhood in Bismarck, North DakotaBismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
. It was there, living next to 5 baseball fields and a golf course, that he developed his lifelong passion for both sports.
Miller's family moved to the Chicago, Illinois
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
area during high school, and from there he went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He chose to major in Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
UIUC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest college in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, created in 1913 through the merger of the College of Literature and Arts and the College of Science. It has nationally ranked programs in chemistry, psychology and speech communications...
, later stating that he preferred the wider range of education provided by a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education. He has also credited part of his later success in management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
to this decision.
During his time at the University of Illinois, Miller joined Triangle Fraternity
Triangle Fraternity
Triangle Fraternity is a social fraternity, limiting its recruitment of members to male students majoring in engineering, architecture, and the physical, mathematical, biological, and computer sciences...
, an organization aimed specifically at those in the fields of engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. 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.
Mr. 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
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
' Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
, 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. Mr. Miller is a practicing Presbyterian, and has served as an Elder at three different churches.
Career
Upon graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Mr. 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 YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and then in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
at the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, 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.
Mr. 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
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- where brought profits into the double-digits.
Because of his success with grassroots leadership, Mr. Miller became the President, C.E.O., 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.
Retirement
In his time at Shell, Mr. Miller was noted for his dedication to community service, and after retirement, was able to give more of his time to charitable causes. He has done this primarily through SLM Discovery Ventures, Inc., which supports community outreach, higher education, and volunteer efforts through commercial projects.Mr. Miller's other philanthropic efforts include serving as a Trustee and Chairman of the Board for the United Way of Texas Gulf Coast from 2003 to 2005, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Points of Light Foundation, one of America's leading volunteer organizations. He has also been on the Board of Directors of the America's Promise Alliance, which aims to reduce dropout rates, since 2002, served as Chairman of the Center for Houston's Future, and a Director of the National Urban League
National Urban League
The National Urban League , formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest...
.
Additionally, Mr. Miller has remained active in the business community, serving on the boards of Applied Materials
Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc. is a capital equipment producer serving the semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar manufacturing industries....
, a semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
wafer fabrication company in Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
(1999-2005), and Reliant Energy
Reliant Energy
RRI Energy, Inc. , based in Houston, Texas, United States, was an energy company that provided electricity to wholesale customers in the United States. The company was one of the largest independent power producers in the nation with more than 14,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across...
in Houston (2003-present); and as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Houston Partnership (2002), Momentum Bio Ventures, Inc. (2003-2004). In 2003 and 2004, he chaired CEO Diversity Initiative for Diversity Best Practices in Washington, D.C., and is a former member of the Business Roundtable
Business Roundtable
The Business Roundtable is a politically conservative group of chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations formed to promote pro-business public policy.-History:...
and National Petroleum Council
National Petroleum Council
The National Petroleum Council is an American advisory committee representing oil and natural gas industry views to the Secretary of Energy.The council was established in 1946 at the request of President Harry S. Truman to represent industry views on any matters relating to oil and natural gas...
. He has also served on the Texas Governor's Business Council and as a Director for the American Petroleum Institute
American Petroleum Institute
The American Petroleum Institute, commonly referred to as API, is the largest U.S trade association for the oil and natural gas industry...
.
In the academic world too, Mr. Miller has made his share of contributions. He has been a Director, Chairman of the Board, and Trustee of the University of Illinois Foundation, coordinating alumni fundraising efforts for his alma mater, and is a Senior Member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He has also been very involved at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, serving on the Board of Trustees, as well as the Board of Advisors for their James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Awards
- Point of Light Award, Points of Light Foundation, 2002
- Volunteer Of The Year Award, United Way, 2007
- Alumni Achievement Award, University of Illinois, 2002
- Father of the Year, Houston Community Partners, 2002
- Man of Vision Award, Prevent Blindness, 2002
- Muriel Folloder Phillips Award for Advocacy of Children and Charitable Causes, ChildBuilders, 2002
- Diversity CEO Leadership Award, Diversity Best Practices, 2002
- Executive Communicator of the Year, Houston Business Journal, 2001
- City Proclamation for United Way Fundraising, Mayor of Houston, 2001
- The Agenda Award for Grassroots Leadership, Fast Company Magazine, 1998
See also
- Notable Triangle Alumni
- Shell Oil CompanyShell Oil CompanyShell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
- University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
- Petroleum industryPetroleum industryThe petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...