Frank Keegan was born in the state of California on January 6, 1925. He attended the local schools in Santa Rosa before shipping out with the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1943-1945. After his discharge from service he returned to his studies and received his Ph.B degree from the University of Santa Clara (1949) and his M.A. (1952) and PhD (1959) degrees from the University of Notre Dame. His doctoral dissertation explored the development of Jacques Maritain's Christian philosophy.

Keegan went on to serve in a variety of academic positions at Notre Dame, Georgetown and Cleveland State University. He also worked for the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. and for the Ford Foundation in Mexico and Central America.

Keegan was appointed President of Salem State College in July and assumed the presidency effective September 1, 1970. In his opening speech to the faculty, Keegan said that he wanted an activist campus with active and motivated faculty and students. The students were certainly activists during his tenure, which was marked by several sit-ins and demonstrations by student groups angered over both local campus problems and world issues such as the Vietnam war. In reaction to demands, Keegan created a variety of new student services, such as the day care center, the Veteran's center, the counseling center, the Learning Center, and the Florence Luscomb Women's center. He also made a commitment to diversifying the campus through the creation of the Minority Affairs program and the first affirmative action committee at Salem State.

Dr. Vincent Mara, Academic Dean at Framingham State College was appointed Acting President for the 1974-1975 academic year.