Keith Osterhage

Keith Osterhage offers a professional career that has supported research and development in higher education across more than three decades; in addition throughout his career he has sought to advance justice, access and opportunities for the poor, women, children, persons of color and LGBTQ persons.

Keith brings more than three decades of experience in management and administration, consulting, program evaluation, policy development and implementation as well as financial and regulatory compliance.  He has held leading administrative positions at five universities (American, George Washington, Rutgers, Marquette and Temple Universities), and consulted at scores of others regarding best practices in research administration (pre award, post award, audit/finance, and regulatory compliance).  He has developed programs for mentoring and training young professionals and has led teams of 10-30 professional staff.  Having managed over $1 billion in funding from government, industry and foundations (grants, contracts, cooperative agreements) for programs of research, training and technical assistance, he has also worked directly as a contractor/consultant for NIH, DOD, Energy, EPA, Transportation and Education Departments.  His nonprofit expertise has included leadership roles at US Legal Services Corporation, ASEE, NORDP and RESET.

Keith’s professional training includes a Bachelor of Arts (Ohio Northern University) and two graduate degrees (Ohio State University).  He has also been a Graduate Fellow in Government (Georgetown University) and has been a CRA (Certified Research Administrator) since 1993.  He holds a Management Development Certificate from Harvard University and a Leadership Institute Certificate from Temple University.  In his professional positions and his consulting assignments he has focused on three key points:  1. Customer Service, 2. Culture of the Organization, and 3. Continuous Process Improvement.  That has enabled his success in growing successful programs and advancing missions.   His work has included professional roles in government, SBA 8(a) minority contractors and academia as well as association management.  And he is a seasoned professional in the area of contracts and grants—from proposal/budget development, award/program management, through project/award close out, having used a variety of instruments including purchase orders, cost plus fixed fee, firm fixed price contracts, to competitive grants programs and cooperative agreements and sub-awards/subcontracts.  His work has also included marketing and managing contract/continuing education programs (both for credit and noncredit in nature).