John Keane, a native of Indiana, brought his marketing and strategic planning experience to the Census Bureau. Before President Ronald Reagan appointed him director of the Census Bureau, he spent 27 years in the private sector in management and consulting positions for such companies as the United States Steel Corp.; Booz, Allen & Hamilton; and J. Walter Thompson. He was also president of Managing Change, Inc., a strategic counseling firm that he founded in 1972.

Keane earned an A.B. from Syracuse University in 1952, and a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame in 1955. He then went on to receive his M.B.A. from Indiana University before earning his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965. After leaving the Census Bureau, Keane returned to his alma mater to become Dean of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. He is now a professor of strategic management and dean emeritus at that institution. Keane has participated in the Census Bureau's oral history program..