Alton Gold Keel Jr. (born September 15, 1943) is an American engineer, government official, diplomat, and businessman. Keel attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, where he earned a bachelor of science in

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1970. He performed weapons research at the

Naval Surface Weapons Center The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy. NAVSEA Warfare Centers supply the technical operations, people, technology, engineering services and products needed t ...

, and then joined the staff of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, where he was a Congressional science fellow (1976–78) and a staff member of the

Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...

(1978–81). He then served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) (1981–82) and Associate Director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

(1982–86). In 1986, he was appointed Executive Director of the

Rogers Commission The Rogers Commission Report was written by a Presidential Commission charged with investigating the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster during its 10th mission, STS-51-L. The report, released and submitted to President Ronald Reagan on June ...

that investigated the

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Can ...

. In July 1986, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed Keel as the acting principal deputy to the National Security Advisor. From 1987-89, Keel was the

United States Permanent Representative to NATO The United States permanent representative to NATO (commonly referred to as the U.S. ambassador to NATO) is the official representative of the United States Mission to NATO, United States mission to NATO. The representative has the rank of full ...

. Keel has held various positions in corporate governance, and as of 2007 was president and managing director of Atlantic Partners LLC, a private investment-banking group.

References

White House announcement of Keel's appointment as deputy National Security Adviser, July 15, 1986

Josie Loyd, "Ambassador Alton G. Keel Jr. Speaks to the Newest Jeffersonian Engineers", U.Va. Engineer, spring 2007

U.S. NATO Mission website
* Richard P Feynman ‘What do you care what other people think’ 1988 Published by Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-141-03088-3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Keel, Alton G. Jr. 1943 births Living people University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni United States Air Force civilians Permanent representatives of the United States to NATO Reagan administration personnel George H. W. Bush administration personnel American aerospace engineers