Robert J. Keegan, the chairman of the board of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with long associations at the University of Rochester and within the Rochester community, has been elected to a five-year term on the University Board of Trustees.
Keegan stepped into Goodyear's leadership ranks as president and chief operating officer in 2000, and in 2003 he also was named CEO and chairman of the board of North America's largest tire maker. Keegan stepped down as president and CEO in April 2010, and will retire from his chairman's role on Oct. 1.
Under Keegan's direction, Goodyear transformed its strategy and culture and built a business model that resulted in improved profitability through outstanding leadership and the introduction of a steady stream of innovative and award-winning new products. During this period, Goodyear was recognized by Fortune magazine as the world's most admired company in the motor vehicle parts industry in 2008, and by Forbes magazine as America's most respected automotive company in 2009.
Before joining Goodyear, Keegan was an executive vice president of Eastman Kodak Company and president of its consumer imaging business at the height of his 26-year career there.
"Since Bob earned his M.B.A. here in the 1970s, he has achieved enormous success in business while being a source of support for our students, and a stalwart advisor to the Simon School," said University President Joel Seligman. "His global perspective is of immense importance to a multifaceted institution like our own."
Keegan, a charter member of the George Eastman Circle, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University's Simon Graduate School of Business in 2007, and the University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the 2010 Simon commencement.
"Bob Keegan has excelled as a leader in diverse and demanding business environments, and we are particularly fortunate to have him join our Board of Trustees at this exciting time," said Edmund "Ed" Hajim, chairman of the board.
Keegan earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from LeMoyne College, and an M.B.A. with a concentration in finance from the Simon School.
His involvement in community service has included positions as director of the University of Akron Foundation and as trustee of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Fund. Last year, the Autism Family Foundation of Northeast Ohio announced the creation of the Robert J. Keegan Family Center for Autism, which was made possible by a gift from Keegan and his wife, Lynn.