NASA administrator and Loyola graduate Sean O’Keefe, is putting his leadership skills to the test after the Columbia disaster.

O’Keefe was president of Loyola’s Student Government Association in 1975.

“He is a first class administrator and leader,” the Rev. David Boileau, philosophy department chair-person and a close personal friend, said. “They would not have put him in the position unless he knew what he was doing.”

When O’Keefe began his job as administrator, he was handed the task of money overruns and budget cuts. Now, only a year later, his mission is to regain confidence in the NASA space program.

O’Keefe received his bachelor’s degree from Loyola in Business Administration in 1977 and went on to receive his master’s degree in public administration at Syracuse University.

“Sean’s leadership skills come not only from what he learned at Loyola, but also what he has learned from his family,” Boileau said.

O’Keefe comes from a long line of politicians in the New Orleans area.

“His grandfather was mayor of New Orleans, and his father was a nuclear engineer and a naval official,” Boileau said. “The street downtown is even named after his family.”

O’Keefe demonstrated his leadership early as SGA president.

“The organization of SGA is important to what it theoretically is supposed to do,” O’Keefe explained to The Maroon in 1975. “I hope to create an attitude of understanding of what power the SGA has. At this time, it is a common misnomer that the SGA exercises regulatory power. The misconception is that the SGA does not govern and has limited powers of regulation, therefore, it is important to direct the power of the SGA to a more influencing capacity,” O’Keefe concluded.

Boileau said that this statement made by O’Keefe is one he will follow today except with NASA as the subject.

“Sean is in charge of a gigantic organization,” Boileau said, “but he is confident, a good politician and a strong believer in the advance of science.”

Before O’Keefe became administrator of NASA, he was a professor of government and business policy at Syracuse University and ran a management training program for Pentagon employees at Syracuse.