Kent M. Keith (born in 1949 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) is an American writer and leader in higher education. Raised in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where he graduated from secondary school, Keith entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

to study government. After graduating, he read philosophy and politics at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

, received his J.D. degree at Richardson School of Law at the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

, and earned an Ed. D. from the Rossier School of Education at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. His early career was as an attorney with Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright and then as Director of the State of Hawaii Department of Planning and Economic Development. He was the President of

Chaminade University Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bache ...

from 1989 to 1995 and was then the Senior Vice President for the YMCA of Honolulu. From 2007 to 2012 he was CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership (US), and from 2012 to 2015 he was CEO of the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership (Asia) based in Singapore. In 2015, he became president of Pacific Rim Christian University in Honolulu.

The Paradoxical Commandments

''The Paradoxical Commandments'' is both a poem and a book by Keith, which he wrote as an undergraduate. It is often found in slightly altered form. In 1997, Keith learned that the poem "The Paradoxical Commandments" had hung on the wall of

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

's children's home in

Calcutta, India Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary fin ...

; and, two decades after writing the original poem, Dr. Keith wrote a book of the same title expanding on the themes of the poem: ''Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World.''

Publications

* The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student council, Harvard Student Agencies, 1968 (republished by National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1972). * The Silent Majority: The Problem of Apathy and the Student Council, National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1971. * An Ethic for Ocean Resource Development, 1981. * Nukolii and Hawaii's Future, 1983. * The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World, Inner Ocean Publishing, 2001. * Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2002. * Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World, New World Library, 2003. * Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians, Berkley, 2005. * Nine University Presidents who Saved Their Institutions: The Difference in Effective Administration, Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. * Do It Anyway: Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness by Living the Paradoxical Commandments, New World Library, 2008. * Have Faith Anyway: The Vision of Habakkuk for Our Times, Jossey-Bass, 2008. * The Case for Servant Leadership, Terrace Press, 2012. * Morality and Morale: A Business Tale, Terrace Press, 2012. * Questions and Answers about Servant Leadership, Greenleaf Center, 2012. * Servant Leadership in the Boardroom: Fulfilling the Public Trust, Greenleaf Center, 2013 * The Ethical Advantage of Servant Leadership: Guiding Principles for Organizational Success, Greenleaf Center, 2013. * The Christian Leader at Work: Serving by Leading, Terrace Press (Honolulu, Hawaii), 2015.

Personal life

He lives with his wife, Elizabeth Keith, and three children in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Kent 1949 births Living people American chief executives of education-related organizations Alumni of the University of Oxford American Rhodes Scholars Harvard College alumni Writers from Brooklyn Educators from Brooklyn University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni USC Rossier School of Education alumni