Timothy P. Keenan
Professional Achievement Award
B.S. Finance, 1980
Timothy P. Keenan once dreamed of a military life. He was the son of a Marine, and he had earned a ROTC scholarship at Ohio State. But Keenan’s aspirations were cut short when he suffered a head injury during a sports accident. He developed epilepsy, which disqualified him from military service.
Despite the setback, Keenan never abandoned his commitment to the military. After graduating from Ohio State, he pursued a career as a federal contractor in Washington, D.C.
Twenty-six years later, Keenan’s firm, High Performance Technologies Inc. (HPTi), is one of the top 25 federal information technology contractors, according to the Washington Business Journal. The firm is a finalist for this year’s National Capital Business Ethics Award, and it is the only federal contractor to win the 2006 Plaque for Performance Excellence, part of the prestigious U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia.
When Keenan co-founded HPTi in 1991, his goal was to help federal agencies solve their most challenging technology problems. Under his leadership, HPTi has developed a long list of sophisticated computer systems. It built the eighth-fastest supercomputer in the world, a system that predicts severe weather in the United States. In 2003, it predicted Hurricane Isabel’s landfall on the North Carolina coast within two minutes and two miles. (Previous systems could typically predict landfalls only within two hours and 200 miles.)
The company also designed the software for a lightweight handheld mortar ballistic computer system. This device allows army mortar teams to set up, fire, and relocate before the enemy can fire back. Field soldiers voted the system a top Department of Defense invention for 2005.
HPTi also developed a treasury payment system that generates checks for the federal government. Capable of disbursing as much as $600 billion with a single electronic payment, it is one of the most secure systems in the federal government.
In 2003, Keenan’s leadership was tested when three of HPTi’s key executives were killed in a plane crash. Through Keenan’s governance, the company rebounded and continued to thrive. “To watch my team come together and not only succeed but deliver record profits—this was inspiring to me,” Keenan said.
In 1989, Keenan received the Distinguished Young Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Contractor of the Year Award. He was named the 2005 Greater Washington Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of emerging government information technology.
Keenan serves on the board of Fairfax Partnership for Youth, which is dedicated to reducing gang violence. He coaches youth lacrosse and chairs Changing Lives, a program that honors adolescents for their community contributions.
