Nancy Josephine Harvey was born on November 28, 1936 to Frederick William and Josephine Elizabeth (Jones) Harvey in Syracuse, New York. She graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in June 1955. Steorts majored in retailing and received a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from Syracuse University in June 1959.

From 1958 to 1961 Steorts worked as a coordinator of public relations at Woodward and Lothrop in Washington, D.C. Steorts was employed as a home economist for the Washington Gas Light Company in Washington, D.C. from 1961 to 1964, presenting food demonstrations, fashion shows and other promotional activities for civic organizations, as well as planning new promotions about the use of gas.

From June 1967 to June 1968 Steorts served as a sales associate for a real estate company, Naomi B. Faison, Inc., in Summit, New Jersey. In November 1968 she took a temporary position as a survey specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, gathering data and evaluating feed tables at various college campuses until March 1969. In 1972 Steorts was appointed to a three-year term on the Montgomery County Commission for Women which advocated equal rights for women. From March to May 1973, Steorts worked as a United States Expositions Officer on the United States Exposition Staff of the Bureau of International Commerce in Washington, D.C. Her responsibilities included procurement, publicity and direction of all aspects of the Expo ’74 World's Fair Ground Breaking Ceremony in Spokane, Washington and the Foreign Visitor Business Program. During these years Steorts was also very active in civic organizations: she served as president of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) from 1970-1971 and president of the Welcome Wagon Club Newcomers’ Club of the Summit Area in Maryland from 1969-1971. In addition to these activities, Steorts worked as the Assistant National Director of Volunteers and National Director of the Women's Speakers Bureau for the campaign to re-elect Richard M. Nixon from 1971 to 1972, as well as the Director of Candlelight Dinners for his inauguration from November 1972 to February 1973.

In July 1973 Nancy Harvey Steorts was appointed to the newly created position of Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for Consumer Affairs. Steorts was the first full-time consumer affairs advisor in any federal agency reporting directly to the Secretary. In this position, she represented the Secretary on consumer-related policy discussions before Congress, cabinet-level departments and agencies, and at public forums. She served as liaison between the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) and consumer organizations and consumer specialists in federal, state and local government and private industry. And she took her message to the public with over 300 speeches in 47 states, and appearing on numerous radio and television programs. Among her accomplishments was the establishment of the first U.S.D.A. National Consumer Advisory Committee and a department wide system to effectively handle all individual consumer complaints, and initiating a choice of portion program in the nation's restaurants.

In February 1977 Steorts left the U.S. Department of Agriculture to form her own consulting firm, Nancy Harvey Steorts & Associates, in the Washington, D.C. area. Steorts advised trade association executives, industrialists, academicians, and government officials on consumer issues and their effect on public and corporate policy. She lectured before major associations, at conferences and universities, and testified before Congress and government agencies on current consumer issues. In July 1979 she and Susan A. Davis founded a woman's marketing firm, Successful Woman, Inc., in Washington, D.C., which offered professional education for women through conferences, seminars and audio/visual presentations. The firm was in business from July 1979 till June 1980. In addition, from July 1978 to June 1980, Steorts served as the consumer representative on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Advisory Committee on Flammable Fabrics, and worked as a consultant to Virginia H. Knauer, Special Assistant to the President (Reagan) and Director of the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, from early 1980 to mid-1981. On July 9, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Nancy Harvey Steorts to be the fourth Chairman of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (C.P.S.C.), having been previously considered for the position in 1979. She was confirmed on July 27, 1981, and sworn into office on August 31, 1981. During her tenure as Chairman, Steorts advocated voluntary safety standards development but clearly enforced regulation when necessary, e.g., she voted to ban urea formaldehyde foam insulation in February 1982. In addition, she was a strong supporter of consumer information and education. Some of the government agency's accomplishments during her administration included informing millions of consumers on the selection of safe toys through three consecutive National Toy Safety Campaigns; placing more than 2 million smoke detectors in low-income homes at no charge or at a discount rate through a C.P.S.C. program in 1600 communities in 26 states; beginning National Product Safety Conferences to encourage feedback from industry, consumers and state and local government officials; and introducing a C.P.S.C.-designed curriculum on poison prevention packaging to be used in the nation's pharmacy schools holding more than 50 seminars for pharmacists to address the problem of closures on prescription packages. Steorts resigned from the Commission on November 29, 1984, effective January 5, 1985. Steorts moved to Dallas, Texas where she formed Nancy Harvey Steorts and Associates on April 25, 1985. The business consulting firm translated government policies for corporations and developed strategic plans to help businesses understand public policies. On February 1, 1985 Steorts was invited by Ray L. Hunt, President of the Dallas Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization made up of some of the city’s most influential corporate and civic leaders which promotes a favorable business climate and quality of life for Dallas residents, to conduct a management review of the organization, and on January 1, 1986, Steorts became President of that organization, becoming the first woman to serve in that capacity. During her tenure as President Steorts was instrumental in increasing international business possibilities for Dallas, serving as a delegate to the 14th Annual Japan-Texas Association Conference in Tokyo and Oita, Japan (September 1987), arranging a Dallas delegation meeting with His Royal Highness, Prince Charles of Wales (who serves as President of Business in the Community in Great Britain) to promote a better understanding of minority economic development (July 1987). In addition, she advocated increasing the leadership roles of women in both the private and public sectors, as well as continuing to promote her specialized interest in consumer product safety and product quality by encouraging both sectors to develop and promote privatization as an alternative to solving problems. On July 13, 1987, Steorts resigned that position, effective December 31, 1987.

After leaving the Council Steorts started working for Boyden, a leading recruiter of management personnel, as a Corporate Senior Vice-President and co-managing director of the office in Washington, D.C., beginning May 16, 1988. It was her job to promote the new business efforts of Boyden in Washington and Dallas areas, concentrating her search efforts in the fields of government and corporate administration, academia, law, public policy and customer relations. Steorts left Boyden on August 25, 1988.

In 1989 Steorts relocated to Chevy Chase, Maryland and founded Nancy Harvey Steorts International, a consulting firm specializing in consumer product safety, quality standards, government representation, national media representation, and joint ventures with industry.

On May 31, 1991 Nancy Harvey Steorts, Katherine Bulow, Nancy Ellis and Barbara Hayward formed BEHRS International, an export trading/marketing company that operated worldwide from headquarters in Washington, D.C. The company’s mission was to increase investments and exports of quality American goods and services into the global market, to promote exports and investments of U.S. women-owned and small businesses, and to assist major corporations access the women’s market. In addition, Steorts worked as an independent distributor for Quorum International from 1992 to 1996. Steorts was also appointed to the U. S. Delegation to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Russian Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations Intergovernmental U.S.-Russia Business Development Committee Standards Working Group which met in St. Petersburg, Russia in September 1992.

Steorts has actively participated as a member in a variety of organizations during her lifetime. Some of the consumer-related organizations include the Food Safety Council, Board of Trustees (1978-1980); American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and as Chairman of ANSI’s Consumer Interest Council (1996-1999); Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), Board of Directors (1985-1991); Federal Reserve System, Chairman of the Consumer Advisory Council (1990-1992); Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Board of Overseers (1991- ?); and Texas Award for Performing Excellence, Board of Overseers (1993-1996). In addition, Steorts has served as a member of educational institutions, including Southern Methodist University, Dedman College Executive Board, Department of Economics Advisory Council (1988); Medical College of Pennsylvania, Board of Directors (1988-1991); Syracuse University Alumni Association, Board of Directors (1992-1995) and honorary board member since 1995; Syracuse University, School of Management, Corporate Advisory Council (1994); and Syracuse University, College for Human Development, Board of Visitors. Steorts' served in several organizations devoted to women-related issues, including the National Council of Career Women, Board of Directors (1977) and President (1978); Executive Women in Government, Chairman (1983); Texas Women's Alliance, Board of Trustees (1986); National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO); and the International Women's Forum. Also, Steorts participated in civic organizations and activities, including the I Have a Dream Foundation–Dallas, Board of Directors (1988-1990); Save the Children–Dallas, Advisory Council (1988-?), and Chairman of Save the Children: An Afternoon with Oprah Winfrey event (1989-1990).

Steorts has received several rewards for her dedication and work for consumer product safety and quality assurance. Some of the awards include: George P. Arent "Medal for Excellence in Government," Syracuse University (1976); "Special Award for Consumer Concerns," the National Diet Workshop (1976); Consumer Safety Award, the National Energy Journal (1983); and One of Best Public Servants of 1984, Gallagher Report. In addition, in 1983 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was designated a "Model Agency" by the Office of Management and Budget in recognition of the cost-effective management of Steorts.

Nancy Harvey married James Earl Steorts, Jr. on June 4, 1960 in Alexandria, Virginia. They had one daughter, Deborah Joan Steorts, born on September 15, 1962. They divorced in 1975. The biographical information on Steorts came from materials found within the collection.