Sean O'Keefe

Sean Charles O'Keefe (born January 27, 1956) is a university professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School, former chairman of Airbus Group, Inc., former secretary of the Navy, former administrator of NASA, and former chancellor of Louisiana State University (LSU). He is a former member of the board of directors of DuPont.

O'Keefe was born in Monterey, California, to Patricia (née Carlin; died 2010) and Patrick Gordon O'Keefe (born c. 1927, died 2019), both natives of New Orleans. Patrick O'Keefe became a United States Navy engineer and over the years worked on nuclear submarines. The family lived on several naval bases during O'Keefe's childhood.

In 1973, he graduated from Wheeler High School in North Stonington, Connecticut. He attended Loyola University in New Orleans, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He subsequently acquired his Master of Public Administration degree in 1978 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

After receiving his master's degree, he began his career as Presidential Management Intern and later was a budget analyst for the Department of Defense. He served on the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations staff for eight years, and was Staff Director of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

In 1989, O'Keefe became Comptroller for the Department of Defense. Dubbed by some "the Grim Reaper," he led efforts to cut defense programs the Pentagon's senior leadership saw as unnecessary or wasteful. He was lauded for his handling of the financial aspects of the Gulf War, managing to collect large payments from U.S. allies which significantly offset the cost of the war.

On July 7, 1992, President George H. W. Bush named him Acting Secretary of the Navy. He subsequently became permanent Secretary of the Navy and held that position until Bush left office on January 20, 1993. Although his time in office was less than seven months, it was eventful. Originally appointed to help clean up the "Tailhook" sexual harassment scandal, he also dealt with the draw down of Navy- and Marine Corps forces in the wake of the end of the Cold War, and he issued a new strategy policy statement for the sea services called "...From the Sea".

After Bush left office, O'Keefe was Professor of Business Administration, Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Pennsylvania State University. He next became the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy, an endowed chair at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

From January to December 2001, O'Keefe served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget in the George W. Bush administration, a job that strengthened his reputation as a "bean counter".