Currently CEO of a project called Advanced Manufacturing Institute of Excellence. Collaborating with Dr. John Sibley. Strong leads in industrialized construction innovation. Suggested pursuing grants and partnerships connected to: Alternative building materials. Industrialized construction tied to 3D printing, AI, and robotics. Projects that bridge traditional construction with advanced manufacturing opportunities. He is strongly interested in a follow up interview, especially about groundbreaking work: building a national think tank institute, modeled in part after IC².

Keenan has been an administrator and tenured faculty member at three top U.S. News and World Report institutions of higher learning.  He is the former vice president and dean of diversity and associate professor of Africana Studies at Colgate University.  Keenan served as associate provost for diversity and associate professor of political science at Marquette University.  Keenan also served as interim assistant provost for the office of multicultural affairs, director of the master of public administration program, and associate professor of political science at Auburn University.

Keenan is co-editor of the book, Entrepreneurship in South Africa and the United States: Comparative Studies (The Edwin Mellen Press, 2008). In addition to several published articles in academic journals and book chapters, Keenan has over 110 papers, presentations, and keynotes in the area of minority entrepreneurship and economic development, supplier diversity, wealth creation ecosystems, innovation, public administration, diversity in higher education, leadership, and management.

Keenan earned a BA in Political Science from Tougaloo College, a Master of Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University.  Keenan is Certified as a Strategic Research Team (SRT) Team Leader as part of the Economic Gardening Professional Certification through the Center for Economic Gardening in the Edward Lowe Foundation.

Keenan is the former President of the Board of Directors for the 30th Street Industrial Corridor an area that was the centerpiece of Milwaukee’s industrial legacy, co-founder and former President of Legacy Foundation which is Wisconsin’s largest private black owned foundation, a member of the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Regional Innovation Center, Inc., a member of The Century Foundation and Urban Manufacturing Alliance Industry and Inclusion National Advisory Board, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Innovation Academy (WIA).