Steven P. Matteuci, 1978
B.A., Denison University
J.D., Northwestern University
President
Harris Bank Arizona
Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Citation awarded May 2008
After college and law school, Steve practiced law in Cincinnati and Dallas. He moved to the Phoenix area in 1987 as general counsel for American Founders Life Insurance. As he orchestrated the transitions from American Founders to Insurance West to DMB Associates, Steve caught the “entrepreneurial” bug. He has been a business leader, investor and corporate director ever since.
In 2007, Steve was appointed president of Harris Bank in Arizona. He oversees the private banking and business banking operations statewide. Prior to the Harris post, Steve served for three years as head of the Arizona office for investment bank, Friedman Billings and Ramsey.
Steve is a highly respected civic leader in Phoenix. He is a member of the Thunderbirds, a special group of Phoenix business leaders who promote the city of Phoenix to the country and the world. The Thunderbirds started the Phoenix Open, one of the premier PGA tournaments in the world, which donates substantial dollars to local charities. Steve was tournament chair in 2000 and Thunderbirds president in 2001. In addition to his work with the Thunderbirds, Steve has served as chair of the board of trustees of the Arizona Science Center, received the Community Champion Award from the Phoenix Boys & Girls Clubs in 2006, was a board member of the 2008 Super Bowl Host Committee, vice chair of the board of Maricopa Partnership for Arts & Culture, and a member of the Greater Phoenix Leadership Council.
Steve has been a nearly constant presence in Denison programming, both on- and off-campus. He was president of the Denison Club of Phoenix for eight years and has hosted numerous dinners and Denison Club events at his home. He regularly returns to campus to lead or participate in programming. In January 2003, he was a guest presenter at Leadershape, a leadership-training program for sophomores. In April 2003, he returned to Granville to attend Inside Denison Today, a volunteer/donor cultivation and educational opportunity. He has served on many of his reunion committees through the year, culminating in his outstanding service as volunteer National Reunion Fund chair, then national chair for the Annual Fund. Most recently, he is serving on the Campaign Executive Committee for the HIGHER GROUND campaign.
