Syracuse University has announced the appointment of two new members of the Board of Trustees. The newest members, David S. Klein ’93 and Sean C. O’Keefe G’78, are both alumni who have earned accolades in their fields, including highest honors for their accomplishments, and both credit their studies at the University for providing the foundation and the tools for their success.

Also joining the board for the 2026-2027 academic year are new student representatives who will bring diverse viewpoints to board discussions. They are master’s student Thomas Andrew Kehoe III; third-year law student Anthony J. Ruscitto ’22, G’23, L’27; rising junior Emily Castillo-Melean ’28; and rising senior Asher Gonzalez ’27. All representatives will report to the Board at Executive Committee and full board meetings.

“With these two appointments, the board gains distinguished voices from industry and from public service—alumni who have reached the highest levels of their professions and remain deeply tied to Syracuse. Further, adding someone with extensive experience in teaching and strategic management in higher education brings critical perspective to Board discussions and governance responsibilities,” says Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Scruggs. “What unites every member of this board is a deep commitment to Syracuse University and a shared desire to enhance the student experience and bring distinction to the academic and research enterprise. The student representatives add vital viewpoints to the work we do to strengthen the entire Orange community.”

Continuing in their second terms to serve as representatives to the board are Newhouse School Dean Mark Lodato, academic dean representative; Professor Tula Goenka, faculty representative; and Andrea Rose Persin, staff representative.

Sean C. O’Keefe ’78 M.P.A.

Sean C. O’Keefe is University Professor Emeritus of Public Administration and International Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where he held the Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair in Leadership from 2014 until his retirement in 2025. He concurrently served as a distinguished senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

After earning a master of public administration at Syracuse University, he worked for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. He returned to the Pentagon as Defense Department comptroller and CFO before serving as secretary of the Navy in the George H.W. Bush administration.  Later he served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush before serving as NASA administrator.

Between public service appointments, O’Keefe taught at Louisiana State University (LSU), as business school faculty at Pennsylvania State University and at Maxwell, first as the Louis A. Bantle Chair of Business and Government and director of the National Security Studies Program, then as University Professor and Phanstiel Chair in Leadership. He was chancellor at LSU in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

O’Keefe was also chair of the board and CEO of Airbus Group Inc. and a vice president at General Electric Company. He currently serves as board chair of Satlantis, LLC, chair of the audit committee of the Battelle Memorial Institute, and board member of TexTech Industries and AIS, Inc. Previous board service includes DuPont, Computer Science Corporation, General Kinetics Inc., J. Ray McDermott S.A., and Sensis Inc.

In 1993, President George H.W. Bush and Secretary Dick Cheney presented O’Keefe with the Distinguished Public Service Award. He received the Department of the Navy’s Public Service Award in 2000 and has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from five institutions, including Loyola University New Orleans, his undergraduate alma mater.

At Syracuse University, he serves on the Institute for Veterans and Military Families Advisory Board and is a former chair of the Maxwell Advisory Board and a member of the Council of Chairs. He was the 1999 faculty recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Public Service and the 2011 recipient of the Arents Award.

Sean and Laura O’Keefe reside in northern Virginia and in Skaneateles, New York, and are the parents of three adult children and have two grandsons.

Read the full article via the Syracuse University Today website.