July 15, 1986
The President today announced the appointment of Dr. Alton G. Keel, Jr., formerly Associate Director (National Security and International Affairs) of the Office of Management and Budget, to the staff of the National Security Council where he will serve as the Acting Principal Deputy to the National Security Adviser. Dr. Keel will serve during the absence of Donald R. Fortier.
Dr. Keel is currently completing his assignment as Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, which he began on February 10, 1986. Prior to his appointment as Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget in September 1982, Dr. Keel served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research, Development, and Logistics, beginning in August 1981. He also served as senior professional staff on the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1978 to 1981. He initially joined the Senate staff as a congressional science fellow in 1976, and previously, he performed weapons research at the Naval Surface Weapons Center in White Oak, MD.
He graduated from the University of Virginia (B.S., 1966 and Ph.D., 1970), and he was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California at Berkeley (1971). Dr. Keel is married, has one child, and was born in Hampton, VA.