Stephen Mecca was a Professor in the Department of Engineering- Physics-Systems at Providence College for over 40 years, during which time he held a number of administrative appointments including that Department Chair and Academic Vice President of the College. He was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Ghana and a Trustee of Radford University in Ghana. He held a doctorate in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, served as a consultant to government, industry and the private sector, worked on projects and studies for NATO, the US Department of Energy and NASA, served over 3 decades as a founding Director of TIMES2, a program to augment the number of qualified students in the STEM disciplines and served for a similar time as a member of RI Atomic Energy Commission. In addition to his teaching he directed research in the S-Lab focusing on: systems dynamics applied to environmental engineering, water resource management, rural sanitation and education. He authored and coauthored numerous articles and three books in the fields of Systems Analysis, Energy Management and Computer Science. His lab developed an off-grid sustainable toilet system for rural communities in the developing world; working under a Grand Challenges Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation he prototyped Microflush Toilets in Ghana and deployed the model globally through the Global Sustainable Aid Project.

Steve and his wife, Linda, have 3 children, 6 granddaughters and a grandson. His family home is in Jamestown, Rhode Island.