Ron Steele Biography

Ron Steele is an American reporter and anchor working for KWWL as the co-anchor of the 5 pm, 6 pm, and 10 pm newscasts. He also serves as the host and producer of The Steele Report, a weekly half-hour KWWL News and Public Affairs program. He joined KWWL in 1974 as sports director. 

Ron Steele Career

Ron has served as a journalist for more than 47 years. He is a member of the Iowa Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, and when Desert Shield became Desert Storm, he was in Saudi Arabia for the Persian Gulf War. When the American hostages came home from Iran, Steele was also present at the White House, and among the hostages was Iowan, Kathryn Koob who is one of the 52 hostages and one of only two women who were held for the entire 444 days.

In addition, one of his memorable assignments was on board Air Force One where he interview President George Bush (41) as President Bush flew to Iowa from New Mexico for an address in Des Moines. The Jack Shelley Award which is The IBNA (Iowa Broadcast News Association) highest honor, was honored to Ron. Furthermore, he has won many other Sports and IBNA News awards such as the Spot News Story of the Year and Sports Story of the Year.

Steele has won the 1st place winner of the IBNA’s Excellence in Anchoring Award multiple times. Through the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, he is a member of the University of Iowa Hall of Fame. During the yearly Upper Midwest Emmy Awards program in 2011, Ron was honored by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with its Silver Circle Award. Over the years Ron has received many Emmy award winners and nominations.

Furthermore, he has had the reveal age to interview many personalities and newsmakers inclusive of more than four hundred on his weekly program known as The Steele Report since 2013, when the show began. A number of his most memorable interview include; Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, Bernie Sanders, and Iowa U.S. Senators, Charles Grassley, and Joni Ernst.

He loves exploring the world and local events and a number of experiences he can recall involved Lowa children, such as Jeremy who was a nine-year-old boy dying of cancer. Jeremy called Ron from his hospital bed to ask whether KWWL could do a story about Make-A-Wish that granted his dying wish for a trip to Florida. As a result of that story, Ron became a charter board member for the former Make-A-Wish of Northeast Iowa.

During the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, a crowd of 60,000 jammed downtown Cedar Rapids as they watched him carry the Olympic Torch and ignite the cauldron. Later on, he anchored the station’s summer Olympic coverage from Atlanta. Furthermore, his award-winning Iowa’s Child Adoption program is the longest-running news series in Iowa. Through his program, 200 special needs children were able to find loving families and permanent homes. In addition, he was honored by The Coalition for Family and Children’s Services in Iowa in 2018.

Many organizations have recognized Steele for his news reporting and community involvement for the last 40 years with The University of Iowa Homecoming Parade Grand Marshal, Civitan Club ‘Citizen of the Year’, and many other awards. He also served as the chairperson for the Community Committee that assisted in raising money to build the $11 million Five Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in downtown Waterloo. In 2012, Steele Co-Chaired the Cedar Valley United Way campaign thus he set an all-time donation record that year.

For a period of 8 years, Ron was on The University of Iowa Alumni Association Board of Directors, and from 2012 to 2013, he was a Board Chair. Ron has also done play-by-play telecasts for ESPN and NBC Sports inclusive of the NCAA II Wrestling Finals and the Women’s College Basketball Finals.  Steel also enjoys sports reporting as he brought KWWL viewers to live reports for events like The Heisman Trophy presentation at New York City’s Downtown Athletic Club, NCAA Basketball Tournament, and the Super Bowl.

For almost a decade, he lectured on Electronic Media writing at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Ron also volunteered for many community organizations over the years such as Entertainment Commission and Cedar Valley Sports. Furthermore, he is an avid runner who has completed 10 marathons and numerous 5 & 10K races. Together with his daughter, they ran the Chicago marathon in 2008. However, Ron had a bypass open heart surgery in January 2017, which was a success, and thus returned to work in April.

Ron Steele Age

He was born in 1950 in Washington, Iowa, United States. Ron is 74 years old.

Ron Steele Height

Steele stands at a height of 6 feet 2 inches.

Ron Steele Family

Steele has managed to keep his personal life away from the limelight hence he has not disclosed any information about his parents. It is also not known if Steele has any siblings.

Ron Steele Wife

Steele is married to Candy Steele. The couple has been married for over 40 and has three children; Ben Steele, Katie Steele, and Luke Steele.

Ron Steele Net Worth

Steele has an estimated net worth ranging between $1 Million – $5 Million which he has earned through being a journalist.

Ron Steele Salary

Steele earns an annual salary ranging between $40,000 – $ 110,500.

Ron Steele Heart Attack

In February 2017, Ron suffered a heart attack and underwent a quadruple bypass open heart surgery that was successful. His doctors in Iowa City called “a new heart and a 35-year warranty.” He went back to work in April of that year and he has been working out almost every day.

Ron Steele Retirement

Steele is not retiring and has no plans to retire soon. He is still a news anchor at KWWL in Waterloo, Iowa.

Ron Steele KWWL

Steele works at KWWL where he works alongside other famous KWWL anchors, reporters, meteorologists, and sports anchors including;

1. Daniel Perreault
2. Travis Breese
3. Michele White
4. Dani Miskell
5. Taylor Vessel
6. Abby Turpin
7. Daniel Winn
8. Mark Schnackenberg
9. Brandon Libby
10. Kyle Kiel
11. Joie Bettenhausen
12. Mark Woodley

The table below answers some of the frequently asked questions about Steele.