Skip to content

In the News: Sean O'Keefe

Prepare for crises, speakers tell Humphrey Fellows

The global pandemic kept Humphrey Fellows from gathering at Syracuse University for an annual workshop on crisis management. But a virtual program taught lessons relevant to the ongoing public health crisis as well as strategies to prepare for future crises.
April 19, 2021

See related: Student Experience

Maxwell alumni, student honored with 2021 American Society for Public Administration awards

Several Maxwell alumni and one current online EMPA student are among the award honorees.
March 11, 2021

O'Keefe remembers space shuttle Columbia tragedy on LocalSYR's Bridge Street

Sean O'Keefe remembers the Shuttle Columbia tragedy on LocalSYR's Bridge Street.
February 2, 2021

O'Keefe discusses Defense Secretary nominee Lloyd Austin in The Hill

University Professor Sean O'Keefe says that while the nomination of may have surprised more than a few people, Austin "may well prove to be exactly the right person for this tough job at this time in our nation’s history." Read O'Keefe's full commentary, "Lloyd Austin can lead — as a civilian," published in The Hill. 
January 6, 2021

O'Keefe writes about the presidential transition in Breaking Defense

"Each day we tolerate President Trump’s behavior we aren’t just humoring an incumbent who refuses to accept the election results. We are putting American citizens at risk," says University Professor Sean O'Keefe.

November 18, 2020

Executive Education event outlines lessons of COVID-19 disruption

“There’s no doubt that we are not going back to the way it was. There will be a—quote unquote—new normal," says Catherine Gerard, associate director of Executive Education, about the short- and long-term effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic. “This has been an incredible disruption,” University Professor Sean O’Keefe said. “This disruptive change is having a global consequence.”

November 13, 2020

O'Keefe talks to SpaceNews about civil space traffic management

University Professor Sean O'Keefe recently participated in a study by the National Academy of Public Administration on which agency was best to handle civil space traffic management. O’Keefe believes the Office of Space Commerce is best suited for the task.

November 13, 2020

O'Keefe discusses executive-legislative relations on CSIS podcast

University Professor Sean O’Keefe reflects that working in both the legislative and executive branches "are both rewarding in their own different ways, as long as you don't confuse that bright line of distinction between policy formulation and program implementation. It typically works very successfully."

October 12, 2020

See related: Congress, Federal, United States

O'Keefe quoted in Houston Chronicle articles on NASA, politics

University Professor Sean O’Keefe analyzes that advancements during these past three administrations are proof that a NASA strategy can withstand nearly two decades of leadership transitions and annual appropriations. "Did it take a different route? Yup," says O’Keefe. "…But it’s still very much on exactly the same path."

October 9, 2020

O'Keefe talks to Christian Science Monitor about commercial spaceflight

"It’s an important inflection point, if you will, of now seeing the opportunity for commercial transportation of humans into space," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe, former administrator of NASA. "This is much akin to the transition when the first civil aviation aircraft took off decades ago after many decades of it being exclusively a public endeavor."

May 27, 2020

O'Keefe reflects on Apollo 13 during 50th anniversary week with KTRH

"This is a remarkable chapter in NASA’s history that has lived for 50 years to remind everybody at that remarkable storied agency what a tremendous accomplishment can be yielded even in moments in which it appears to be on the verge of failure," University Professor Sean O'Keefe says. "It reminds us of our humanity." 

April 17, 2020

O'Keefe comments on NASA's upcoming astronaut launch in The Atlantic

"You can’t just turn the lights out and say, we’ll be back," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe. "[The space station] is an asset that needs constant operational attention."

April 14, 2020

O'Keefe discusses USS Theodore Roosevelt COVID incident in NY Times, Washington Post

"At its core, this is about an aircraft carrier skipper who sees an imminent threat and is forced to make a decision that risks his career in the act of what he believes to be the safety of the near 5,000 members of his crew," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe.

April 9, 2020

Mandela Washington Fellows introduced to SU Libraries

Last summer, a group of young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa made their way to the Syracuse University campus as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and empowers young leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking across higher education institutions and communities across the United States.
February 17, 2020

See related: Student Experience

O'Keefe op-ed on Trump and the military published in NY Times

"Contamination from the president’s approach is amplified when his judgment is largely shaped by television commentators and his decision announced by tweet," write University Professor Sean O'Keefe and his co-author. "No one is as well positioned to balance the exigencies of combat and the demands of law and ethics as a panel of fellow sailors, Marines, airmen or soldiers," they add.

November 26, 2019

O'Keefe op-ed on Apollo II published in The Hill

Sean O'Keefe's op-ed "Apollo 11: A seismic scientific event that multiplied pace of technology" was published in The Hill. He was also quoted in the New York Times about Apollo 11.
July 22, 2019

O'Keefe discusses the space race with Yahoo Finance

"We're seeing some really, really inventive entrepreneurs with grand visions that are basically just getting started to move towards that same pattern that we saw for commercial aviation that made traveling around the globe a relatively easy proposition," says Sean O'Keefe, University Professor and former NASA administrator.

July 19, 2019

New Robertson Fellows prepare to tackle international challenges

Three new Robertson Fellows are introduced into the 2019-2020 cohort of incoming public administration and international affairs graduate students to further their careers in international peace, security and development.
July 18, 2019

See related: Student Experience

  • 1
  • 2 (current)
  • 3
  • 4
Communications and Media Relations Office
200 Eggers Hall