Kent M. Keith (born in 1949 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

) is an American writer and leader in higher education. Raised in

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California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

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and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, where he graduated from secondary school, Keith entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

to study government. After graduating, he read philosophy and politics at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, received his J.D. degree at Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and earned an Ed. D. from the

Rossier School of Education The USC Rossier School of Education is one of the graduate schools of the University of Southern California. Rossier offers six master's degree programs, a Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership (Ed.D.) degree, a Global Execut ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. His early career was as an attorney with Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright and then as Director of the State of Hawaii Department of Planning and Economic Development. He served as the President of

Chaminade University Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in ...

from 1989-1995 and was then the Senior Vice President for the YMCA of Honolulu. From 2007 to 2012 he served as CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership (US), and from 2012 to 2015 he served as CEO of the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership (Asia) based in Singapore. In 2015, he became president of Pacific Rim Christian University in Honolulu.

The Paradoxical Commandments

''The Paradoxical Commandments'' is both a poem and a book by Keith, which he wrote as an undergraduate. It is often found in slightly altered form. In 1997, Keith learned that the poem "The Paradoxical Commandments" had hung on the wall of

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

's children's home in Calcutta, India; and, two decades after writing the original poem, Dr. Keith wrote a book of the same title expanding on the themes of the poem: ''Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World.''

Publications

* The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student council, Harvard Student Agencies, 1968 (republished by National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1972). * The Silent Majority: The Problem of Apathy and the Student Council, National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1971. * An Ethic for Ocean Resource Development, 1981. * Nukolii and Hawaii's Future, 1983. * The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World, Inner Ocean Publishing, 2001. * Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2002. * Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World, New World Library, 2003. * Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians, Berkley, 2005. * Nine University Presidents who Saved Their Institutions: The Difference in Effective Administration, Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. * Do It Anyway: Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness by Living the Paradoxical Commandments, New World Library, 2008. * Have Faith Anyway: The Vision of Habakkuk for Our Times, Jossey-Bass, 2008. * The Case for Servant Leadership, Terrace Press, 2012. * Morality and Morale: A Business Tale, Terrace Press, 2012. * Questions and Answers about Servant Leadership, Greenleaf Center, 2012. * Servant Leadership in the Boardroom: Fulfilling the Public Trust, Greenleaf Center, 2013 * The Ethical Advantage of Servant Leadership: Guiding Principles for Organizational Success, Greenleaf Center, 2013. * The Christian Leader at Work: Serving by Leading, Terrace Press (Honolulu, Hawaii), 2015.

Personal life

He lives with his wife, Elizabeth Keith, and three children in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Kent 1949 births Living people American chief executives of education-related organizations Alumni of the University of Oxford American Rhodes Scholars Harvard College alumni Writers from Brooklyn Educators from Brooklyn University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni USC Rossier School of Education alumni