On Monday, August 2, 2010, Rochelle Steiner became Dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts. A recognized curator and writer, she has organized over 60 major art exhibitions and large-scale public art projects in the United States and Europe.

From 2006 to 2009, Steiner was Director of Public Art Fund in New York, and under her leadership the non-profit organization commissioned 35 public art projects with established and emerging international artists, including Olafur Eliasson's The New York City Waterfalls, which is one of the most ambitious works of public art to have been realized to date. Other major projects include commissions and exhibitions by Chris Burden, Peter Coffin, Anish Kapoor, Damian Ortega, Sarah Morris, and Sarah Sze, all presented in New York City's outdoor public spaces.

As Chief Curator at the Serpentine Gallery in London (2001–06), Steiner curated one-person and group exhibitions with internationally acclaimed artists including Glenn Brown, John Currin, Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Ellsworth Kelly, Takashi Murakami, Gabriel Orozco, Nick Relph & Oliver Payne, Cindy Sherman, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. From 1996 to 2001, she was Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, where she organized the large-scale group exhibition Wonderland, which included new works by Ernesto Neto, Olafur Eliasson, Jennifer Steinkamp, and others, as well as the Museum's Currents contemporary exhibition series, including one-person shows with Peter Doig, Tom Friedman, Elizabeth Peyton, and Gary Simmons, among many others. She has also served as a consultant to the Miami Art Museum, developing a plan for the museum as it embarks on construction of a new Herzog & de Meuron–designed building.

Steiner earned PhD and MA degrees in Visual and Cultural Studies (Art History) from the University of Rochester, and a BA from Syracuse University in English and Advertising. In 2009 she was one of ten fellows selected from U.S. museums for the Center for Curatorial Leadership program, in association with Columbia University Business School's Executive Education program.

Her more than 50 essays and interviews with artists have appeared in numerous exhibition catalogues, journals and magazines including Parkett, Modern Painters, Art Review, and World of Interiors.