Title: “Lead Where You Stand does NOT Mean Standing Still!”
Description: Strategies, lessons learned, and the “Leadership Non-Negotiables” developed during my journey from teenage mother, to Air Force Leader, to University Professor.
Bio: In August 2017, Dr. Keller accepted a faculty position in the Huntsman School of Business, where she teaches and promotes entrepreneurial leadership for the Center for Entrepreneurship. She is also a member of USU’s MBA faculty where she leverages her expertise in operations management for the benefit of her students. Additionally, Dr. Keller is a Huntsman Scholars Cohort Mentor and responsible for ensuring 40+ Huntsman Scholars receive academic and professional guidance. Dr. Keller has been recognized numerous times for her excellence both inside and outside of the classroom and is often sought out to be a keynote speaker, committee member, and special project leader.
Before joining the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Faculty in a full-time capacity, Dr. Keller served her country as a Civilian Leader in the United States Air Force (2003-2017). Dr. Keller began her career with the United States Air Force in September 2003 as the Chief of the Process Improvement Branch within the Aircraft Division at OO-ALC. In this position, she oversaw all process improvement initiatives related to the depot repair and modification of the A-10, F-16, and C-130 aircraft, housed in 39 separate buildings and involving 2,400+ personnel. Partnering with other managers, she achieved an increase in F-16 on-time delivery from 78% to 100%, an increase in C-130 on-time delivery from 46% to 100%, a 50% reduction in F-16 wing flow days and a 50% reduction in A-10 production flow days through implementation of various process improvement tools. Dr. Keller’s influence on the F-16 CCIP program resulted in OO-ALC’s F-16 Branch winning the Shingo Prize Silver Award for 2005 in the awards’ first-ever public sector competition; and in 2006, she led the entire F-16 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron to a Gold Level Shingo Prize victory!
In April of 2005 Dr. Keller was promoted to the position of Chief of Transformation for Ogden Air Logistics Center, where she was responsible for managing all Center-directed transformation activities to include Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiatives, Continuous Process Improvement/Lean activities, Balanced Score Card, project facilitation, and CPI training for the ALC.
In January, 2008 Dr. Keller returned to the business of depot maintenance as the Deputy Director 526 EMXS (Generator Squadron) for the 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group, Ogden Air Logistics Center. There she managed the depot level repair, testing, overhaul requirements for Regulators, Ground Power, Oil and Air Cooled Generators. In June of 2008, Dr. Keller accepted the challenge to revitalize and the critical C-130 depot maintenance program as the Deputy Squadron Director. There she directed and supervised production and weapon accepted system support functions to ensure appropriate production planning, work loading, labor standards, etc. Her influence yielded significant positive results as she refined production operations to meet aggressive quality and delivery goals.
Air War College Maxwell AFB, Ala 2008
Ph.D. Utah State University, 1998
M.S. Utah State University, 1995
B.S. Utah State University, 1992