ABOUT & ISSUES

About

* Born and raised in Greenville, Michigan.

* U of M Regent Scholar

* Graduated from Inteflex, the U of M 6-year integrated pre-medical/medical program with his Bachelors degree (With Distinction) in 1978, and his medical degree in 1981.

* Served as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at U of M Medical School for more than 20 years.
 
Dr Steele served on the Board of Club Wolverine, a non profit USA Swimming  club utilized by most of the University of Michigan Varsity swimmers outside of the NCAA swim season. While on the Board, he was Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
 
The Steele family has a long tradition of service to public schools through decades of contributions in coaching, teaching and school boards. His grandfather, with two degrees from UM, played football for Fielding Yost, and spent nearly 40 years in public education at the highschool and college level. His father, a UM Dental School graduate spent over 30 years on public school boards and helped found a Community College.
 

A founding shareholder of Michigan Heart P.C., Rob served many years on the Board of Directors and chaired the Finance Committee of the practice that grew to include over 30 physicians, and 300 employees with seven permanent and two satellite offices in five counties.  In 2011, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System acquired Michigan Heart P.C.

 

Dr. Steele and his wife, Phyllis Boniface MD, a psychiatrist, have four children, including a son and a daughter who have graduated from college. They have one daughter in college and one attending public school in Ann Arbor.

In 2010, Steele was the GOP nominee against John Dingell. He held Dingell to his lowest percentage of vote in his 55-year career in Congress. In the Congressional race Steele had the top NRA rating, and the RTL endorsement.

Dr. Steele continues in the full-time practice of cardiology.

Issues

In-state Money = In-state Students

Everywhere I travel, I hear concerns about top students not gaining admission to the University of Michigan who subsequently leave the state to pursue their degrees. The University of Michigan must do more to retain the best and brightest of our future innovators graduating from Michigan high schools.

That is why I support the following:

• Guaranteed acceptance for Michigan’s top performing high school graduates at U of M

• Use endowment to increase merit based tuition assistance for in-state students

• Encourage internships, research projects, and international studies with Michigan based companies

• Develop a tuition refund program from the endowment for students graduating with hard science degrees who stay and work in Michigan

• Limit enrollment of out of state and foreign students until all qualified Michigan high school graduates are accommodated