Career Before NASA
After receiving his master's, he began his career as 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. O'Keefe became Controller and Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Defense in 1989. O'Keefe served as acting United States Secretary of the Navy from 1992–1993 under President George H. W. Bush.
After Bush left office, O'Keefe was Professor of Business Administration and 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 the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Joining the George W. Bush administration, O'Keefe served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget from January to December 2001, a job that strengthened his reputation as a "bean counter" — someone who counts every penny.
Read more about this topic: Sean O'Keefe
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