The Steinhauer family’s Mt. Lebanon home is where they
catch up with each other (and maybe catch an episode of
The Office.) Pictured are Luke, 15; Tim, Kim, and Nathan, 12.

from the high school,” says Steinhauer, whose office is adorned
with pictures of his wife and two sons along with modern art from
the likes of Warhol, Kandinsky and Picasso.

Steinhauer, who turns 46 this month, says taking charge comes
naturally to him: “I’ve always been in leadership roles. Whether I
chose to or not, those roles have found me.” As superintendent,
he wants to motivate his team, from administrators to teacher to
students, to do their best. “That’s the ultimate goal of a leader:
to inspire others,” he says. In addition to his work in the public
schools, he has taught at Duquesne University and has been an
examiner for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, a
government award given by the President of the United States
to top organizations based on high quality and performance
standards. Steinhauer and his wife, Kim, share a love for arts, especially
music. A trumpet player, Tim was a drum major and met Kim,
when they were undergrads at I.U.P. He sings in the choir at Mt.

Lebanon United Lutheran Church. Kim, who has a doctorate in
speech science, owns Vocal Innovations, a consulting company
that helps singers with voice problems. Their older son, Luke, 15
and a sophomore at the high school, is a CLO Mini-Star.

In addition to making music and keeping up with his active
family (including Yorkshire terrier, Augie), Steinhauer loves
running and cycling.

38 mtl • october 2009
That energy seems to be carrying over into his new job.

“It seems like he’s excited to take on things, not to let things
happen,” says Drew Haberberger, president of Mt. Lebanon
Education Association, the district’s teachers union. “He seems
like a take-charge kind of guy." Haberberger says he had a good
gut feeling about him from the start, noting that pair shares the
IUP alma mater.

Steinhauer will have to jump right in. In addition to the high
school building project, the teachers contract is up next year. But
Haberberger believes the new superintendent's learning curve will
be short, thanks to his experience.

“I was very impressed,” says Karen Wolowski, president of the
PTA Council. “I was very comfortable. I thought he could step
right in. He gets the vision of PTA and understands how our
school works.”
Steinhauer agrees his experience is key. “I have been in the top
three fine school districts in Allegheny County. So yeah, I know
what the expectations are for a top performing school. And I
know what the expectations are for a superintendent in a top
performing school. … I wouldn’t have become superintendent
if I didn’t understand how to get people to collaborate and work
together, because I think that’s one of the key characteristics of a
good superintendent.”
There is a lot of work ahead, but Steinhauer describes his charge
in simple terms that, once again, could apply to Mt. Lebanon's
evolving housing stock as well as its progressive school district:
“Leave the campsite a little better than how I found it.”