Steve Salbu joined Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business as dean and Stephen P. Zelnak chairholder in July 2006. Previously he served as associate dean for graduate programs at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. He joined that school in 1990 and was named its Bobbie and Coulter R. Sublett Centennial Endowed Professor in 2000. He also served as director of the McCombs School Business Ethics Program and editor in chief of the American Business Law Journal.

Previously an editorial board member of Business Ethics Quarterly, Salbu has published extensively in the areas of business ethics and law. His articles have appeared in such journals as the American Business Law Journal, Business Ethics Quarterly, Business and Society Review, Boston University Law Review, Case Western Reserve Law Review, Chicago Journal of International Law, Columbia Business Law Review, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Cornell International Law Journal, Florida Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Harvard Journal on Legislation, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Hastings Law Journal, Indiana Law Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, Law and Policy in International Business, Michigan Journal of International Law, Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business, Rutgers Law Review, Securities Law Review, Tulane Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Business Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Washington Law Review, Washington University Law Quarterly, Washington and Lee Law Review, Yale Journal on Regulation, and Yale Journal of International Law.

Salbu has served as a visiting professor at a number of US business schools, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Indiana University. He has also taught extensively at international business schools and law schools, including London Business School, Rotterdam School of Management, IMADEC University in Vienna, the University of Edinburgh (joint business law program with the University of Texas), ITESM in Mexico City (joint EMBA program with the University of Texas), the University of Melbourne Law School (as Honorary Senior Fellow), Copenhagen Business School, INCAE in Costa Rica, Helsinki School of Economics, Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, and the Melbourne Business School (as the inaugural Gourlay Visiting Endowed Professor of Business Ethics). In addition, Salbu has acted as a business consultant since the 1980s, working with many clients in a variety of areas, including business ethics, strategy, regulatory issues, medical ethics, and FDA regulatory policy.

A native of New York, Salbu holds a bachelor's degree (psychology) from Hofstra University, a master's degree from Dartmouth College (liberal studies), a law degree from the College of William and Mary, and master's and doctoral degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (organization and strategy).