Michael O'Keefe has been the president of Minneapolis College of Art and Design since mid-2002. MCAD is one of the nation's highly regarded private art and design colleges, offering fifteen undergraduate majors including the fine arts, design, illustration, animation, and multi-media; post-baccalaureate study; and the Masters of Fine Arts. The college currently enrolls 670 students.

O'Keefe most recently served as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the state's largest department with an annual budget of $6 billion and 6,700 employees. The department supports a broad range of services, including health care, economic assistance, child welfare services, and services for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Prior to his tenure as human services commissioner, O'Keefe spent ten years as executive vice president and chief executive officer for The McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis. The foundation provides grants in human services, housing, the arts and the environment and supports research in several areas as well as international projects. He is the former president of the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education in Washington, D.C., has held a number of posts in higher education and government, and has served on numerous boards.

In addition to his role at MCAD, O'Keefe has co-chaired the Program on Education at the Aspen Institute since 1987. He presently serves on the board of directors of Minnesota Public Radio and recently stepped down from service on the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota.

O'Keefe received his B.S. at Marquette University in Milwaukee in physics, mathematics, and philosophy and earned his M.S. at the University of Pittsburgh in nuclear physics and mathematics. He has an honorary doctor of letters from Hamline University.