Meet a Colleague: Steve Mammarella Steve Mammarella serves as the manager of web development in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

W&L News Office
November 11, 2026

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I started working for W&L in 2010 after graduating from the law school. So I’ve been here now for over 16 years. Just typing that made a few more of my hairs turn gray.

Q. What is the favorite aspect of your job at W&L?
It’s cliché, but the people. There aren’t a lot of jobs in web development that would have me interacting with such an incredible and diverse group of coworkers every day.

Q. If you chose a different path, what other career would you have?
I almost became a lawyer. I did everything to that end, except actually start to practice law. But at this point, were I to actively choose something else, I think something at NASA would be pretty neat. Aerospace engineer or the like.

Q. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Acton, Massachusetts. It’s a tiny town just outside of Boston. The streets of my neighborhood were all named after local poets and writers. My house was a half mile from both the town dump and my elementary school. They were different places, don’t worry.

Q. What was your favorite subject in school?
I always loved math. It came naturally to me and just seemed to make sense. However, once we introduced imaginary numbers and theoretical concepts, it fell out of favor. Practical mathematics is where it’s at.

Q. What three words describe you best?
Humorous, analytical and indecisive.

Q. Name one person from history you would like to spend a day with and why.
Mr. Rogers. I grew up watching him and I think that getting to spend an entire day with him would be incredibly restorative and enlightening.

Q. Who is the most famous person you have met and where did you meet them?
I met chef Martin Yan (host of Yan Can Cook) while attending the University of Massachusetts. Students were invited to write essays trying to win spots on stage cooking with him. My essay, “Yan Can Cook – I cannot,” was selected. The food I cooked on stage was patently terrible, true to the topic of my essay.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Look. I’m not proud of this, but it’s who I am. I do not like volumes to be on odd numbers. If there’s a numerical value assigned to the volume, it needs to be set to an even number. I can’t explain it. It makes no sense. And I wish it wasn’t so.

Q. What do you like to do away from work?
I enjoy games. Board games, card games, video games, etc. If it’s a game, I’ll play it. Except for Candyland. I’m so happy my kids have outgrown that obscenity.

Q. What is your least favorite chore at home?
Pressure-washing. In short spurts, I love the deep satisfaction of immediate results. But extended activity hunched over in that stress position causes my entire body to ache. This past year, I hired some college guys to clean the driveway. Best money I’ve ever spent.

Q. What is your favorite family holiday tradition?
Friendsgiving. We’ve gotten together with friends for the past 15+ years to celebrate. It’s everything that’s amazing about Thanksgiving (food, drink, merriment) without having to worry about your cheek getting pinched or political discourse.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
I went skydiving with my wife back when we were dating. I don’t like heights … at all. But I actually paid money to get pushed out of an old turboprop plane over central Virginia. It was actually a lot of fun, once the initial terror subsided.

Q. What do you pretend to hate but secretly love?
I’d like to think that I’ve matured as a person to the point that I can be honest about the things I love and hate with the people I care about. That said, it’s snow days. They throw my schedule in a loop every time, but it’s hard to break the nostalgia and childhood excitement of a snow day.

Q. What is your all-time favorite food or food dish?
I was in Naples almost a decade ago and my wife and I went into this tiny pizza joint off some random alley. Easily the best pizza I’ve ever had and I think about it all the time.

Q. Where would you choose to build your dream home?
My dream home is many things: on a lake, in the mountains but easily accessible, within range of a city, surrounded by friends’ dream homes, somewhere with well-defined and traditional seasons, and no annoying bugs. I don’t actually know if such a place exists.

Q. What is your all-time favorite book?
“The Riftwar Saga,” by Raymond E. Feist. I re-read them every year or two.

Q. If you could choose one series to binge-watch, what would it be?
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” I wanted to pick “Firefly,” but with only 14 episodes, it’d be a short but awesome binge.

Q. What is your all-time favorite movie?
“Shawshank Redemption.” It’s just so good and always worth watching.

Q. What song or artist could you play on repeat?
Less Than Jake. I grew up loving ska/punk and I’ll die loving ska/punk.

Q. Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
When I was in high school, I wrote and coded an online quiz – “Which delicious SPAM recipe are you?” It had 10 ridiculous questions and at the end, it paired your answers with one of six different recipes. I don’t remember all of them, but I distinctly remember Mac n’ SPAM n’ Cheese. I tried making it. Only once.