Ron Steer received his B.Sc. (1963), Ph.D. (1968) and D.Sc. (1995) degrees from the University of Saskatchewan. From 1968-1969, he did postdoctoral research with Jim Pitts, Jr. at the University of California, Riverside, where he first became interested in the chemistry and relaxation dynamics of electronically excited molecules. He returned to the University of Saskatchewan in 1969 as Assistant Professor of Chemistry. He was promoted to full Professor in 1978, served a term as department head from 2002 to 2005, and served as the elected representative of the faculty on the University of Saskatchewan's Board of Governors from 2001 to 2004. He has taught at all levels, from introductory general chemistry, through introductory and advanced undergraduate physical chemistry, to graduate courses in laser chemistry and physics and excited state chemistry. Steer received the Master Teacher Award in 1996; was awarded the title of distinguished professor by the University in 2011; and received the John C. Polanyi Award (from Canadian Society for Chemistry) in 2013.