O’Keefe gets job with GE

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Mar 14, 2008 - Page: 14A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Former LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe is taking over General Electric Co.’s aviation operations in Washington, D.C., GE Aviation announced Thursday.

A former NASA administrator, O’Keefe  stepped down amid controversy as LSU chancellor in January and has since continued to teach at LSU while looking into other job opportunities.

O’Keefe, 52, will start working at GE Aviation on June 2.

O’Keefe said Thursday that he was attracted to a private sector job that matches his experience, where he can focus on strategic planning and government relations for GE.

O’Keefe, who declined to comment on his new salary, said working for a “blue-chip” corporation was more appealing than a public job at another university.

“I came to Louisiana because I really wanted to come back home,” O’Keefe said about his passion for LSU. “The idea of going to another university and looking up its history and learning the school colors didn’t sound all that appealing.”

During his first year in the new job, O’Keefe said, he will frequently commute back to Baton Rouge while his youngest son completes his senior year of high school.

GE Aviation develops both commercial and military engines and aircraft.

“Sean brings a wealth of experience involving complex public policy issues as well as advanced technologies,” GE Aviation President Scott Donnelly said in a prepared statement.

“He (O’Keefe) takes over the helm of our Washington office at a very dynamic period in the aviation history,” Donnelly said.

When O’Keefe resigned at LSU, he cited philosophical differences with the direction new LSU System President John Lombardi wanted to lead LSU. O’Keefe also said he did not have the full support of Lombardi and the LSU Board of Supervisors.

LSU System leadership contended O’Keefe’s departure came at the tail end of a critical review process.

Some of O’Keefe’s supporters in the business community said O’Keefe was forced out of LSU.