Former SU professor and son among survivors of Alaska plane crash that killed five.
View full sizeSean O'Keefe (right), then administrator of NASA, speaks to Dick Cauchon, of Sensis Corp., before speaking at the 2003 Annual Corporate Breakfast at Drumlins to benefit Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse. The photo was taken on April 4, 2003.Washington -- Former Syracuse University professor and NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and his son, Kevin, are among the survivors of the Alaska plane crash that killed former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, one of his friends said this afternoon.
SU professor William Smullen, director of the Maxwell School's National Securities Studies program, said he spoke with O'Keefe's wife, Laura, who confirmed the two survived with broken bones.
Sean O'Keefe has a fractured pelvis and broken hip, Smullen said.
O'Keefe's son, Kevin, who is entering his sophomore year at SU, has multiple fractures. Smuilen said he was told none of the injuries appeared life-threatening, although Sean O'Keefe will need surgery.
According to a biography on NASA’s Web site, O’Keefe was Louis A. Bantle professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from 1996 to 2001. He simultaneously served as the director of National Security Studies, a partnership between SU and Johns Hopkins University.
He was the faculty recipient of SU’s Chancellor’s Award for Public Service in 1999, according to the biography. He also was a Maxwell student, earning his master's degree in public administration in 1978, said Jill Leonhardt, speaking for the college.
O’Keefe left SU to joined President George W. Bush’s administration, serving as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget until December 2001, when he was appointed NASA administrator, a post he held until 2005.
At EADS subsidiary, O'Keefe now oversees the company's bid for the hotly contested Air Force refueling jet contract.
The competition, which pits EADS against rival plane maker Boeing Co., is for a piece of what could eventually be $100 billion worth of work replacing the military's fleet of aging tankers.
Contact Washington correspondent Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751.
More information:
» From the archives (2/9/2003): Syracuse watches as NASA's Sean O'Keefe shoulders the challenge of a lifetime
» From the archives (12/19/2004): SU experience put O'Keefe on the path to public service
» Stevens dead in plane crash; O'Keefe survives [Ankorage Daily News]