Steve Lupien, a University of Wyoming faculty member remembered as forward-thinking and a dedicated mentor, died Sunday following an extended illness.
Lupien, 62, was the Ada Lovelace Director of UW’s Center for Blockchain & Digital Innovation and a lecturer in the College of Business.
“Steve will be remembered not only for his brilliant business mind but also for his warmth, his perpetual smile, his gift of gab and humor, and his commitment to lifting up the next generation of leaders,” his obituary read.
Lupien was born in 1964 in Holyoke, Massachusetts and grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut. He received a bachelor’s from Sacred Heart University and a master’s in finance from Fairfield University. Throughout his career, Lupien held senior executive positions at several corporations including Five Star Products, Land O’ Lakes Specialty Foods, Bigelow Tea and AT&T, according to his obituary.
In 2019, he moved to Wyoming to join UW’s faculty, where he “created the first-in-the-nation interdisciplinary minor in blockchain technology,” UW President Shane Reeves said in a letter announcing Lupien’s passing.
“Undoubtedly, Steve exemplified the character, passion and competence we strive for at the University of Wyoming,” Reeves wrote.
“He cared about every student he had, he was so focused on time to have everybody understand what he was trying to teach,” Dalton Gregory, a former student said.
“It didn’t matter if you were an agriculture student, if you were a business student, if you were an engineering student, whatever it was, what he was talking about, he would figure out a way to relate it back to you,” Gregory said.
In addition to his faculty position at UW, he helped shape Wyoming’s blockchain policies and served on the Wyoming Charter School Authorizing Board and the boards of Intersect, Wyoming Cybersecurity Action Network and CyberWyoming. Lupien also advised the Wyoming Legislature’s Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology.
Patrick Wolfinbarger, co-founder of CyberWyoming, worked with Lupien on several projects, including the Blockchain Stampede, an annual convening of state and national experts focused on blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and digital assets.
“From a personal standpoint, I think my best memory is that he had a sense of humor about him, even when things were kind of going a little slower than he wanted or there was some challenges that he may have faced in getting things accomplished in the policy areas,” Wolfinbarger said.
St. Paul’s Newman Center in Laramie will host Lupien’s celebration of life at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 11.
Find more information about ways to celebrate Lupien’s life here.
