About Gale

Executive Biographies

Dennis Stepaniak

Executive Vice President
Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Dennis Stepaniak is executive vice president and chief financial officer for Gale, one of the world's leading e-reference and information publishers.

Mr. Stepaniak joined Gale in 2000 from Fullscope, Inc., an Ann Arbor, MI-based Internet start-up, where he was the chief financial officer, responsible for all finance, accounting, and investor relations. Prior to Fullscope, he was with Voyager.net, an East Lansing, Michigan-based ISP, where he was executive vice-president, chief financial officer and treasurer, managing all the company's financial and accounting functions, plus investor relations and support for the company's strategic sales and marketing initiatives. He also led Voyager's successful IPO, raising more than $135 million.

Before Voyager, Mr. Stepaniak spent 15 years with UMI (now ProQuest), progressing through a variety of executive positions, ultimately spending five years as a member of the executive leadership committee, as vice president, finance, and chief financial officer. While at UMI, he was an integral team member on the launch, development and enhancements of ProQuest, an online product that helped define the future of the company.

Prior to UMI, Mr. Stepaniak was a financial and cost analyst for National Bank of Detroit. Mr. Stepaniak is active in his community as a volunteer coach in youth soccer and basketball, plus other volunteer work for the Michigan Colleges Foundation, the United Way and the Eastern Michigan University Career Development program.

A Michigan native, he holds a bachelor's degree from Alma College and a Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University.