Pesident emeritus, Missouri State University
Dr. John H. Keiser is president emeritus of Missouri State University. During his 12 years at Missouri State, he initiated the planning, legislative and gubernatorial approval of the statewide mandate in public affairs education. The institution was one of five public universities, including the US Naval Academy, which received the Templeton Award for Character Building Institutions when it was recognized for both Institutional Achievement and Presidential Leadership. Keiser facilitated the total revision of general education at Missouri State, with an emphasis on public affairs, implemented higher admissions standards for students and increased the percentage of graduate students from 8 percent to 20 percent. Keiser retired from Missouri State University in 2005 and holds the title of Public Affairs Conference Chair Emeritus.
As an historian, Keiser’s extensive bibliography includes works that have won literary prizes. His books include "Building for the Centuries: Illinois, 1865-1898," "Illinois Vignettes" and an unpublished manuscript titled "Be a Leader." Most of his writings emphasize the essential nature of public affairs, of participatory active citizenship and of the importance of the natural environment.
Keiser received a bachelor's in education from Eastern Illinois University with a major in social science and a minor in French in 1958, and a master's in 1960 and a PhD in history in 1964 from Northwestern University.