John H. Keiser was born in Mt. Olive, Illinois to Howard and Lorriane (Fenwick) Keiser.

He got his undergraduate degree in Social science with a minor in French at Eastern Illinois University where he would meet his wife, Nancy Peterka at Eastern Illinois and would be married for 56 years. According to his obituary, he would ask Nancy what he should do after graduating, Marine Corps, Canadiana Football league, or graduate school. Nancy picked graduate school. He earned is his master’s and Ph.D. in History at Northwestern University. He would go on to teach history at Northwestern, Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Eastern Illinois University, and finally Sangamon State University (SSU), now University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). In addition to history, he was the Vice President of Academic Affairs from 1971-1978. In addition, he served as both Vice President, and President.

He left SSU to become the president at Boise State University. He had a major impact on Boise State University becoming the school that it is today and increasing their present in the college football scene. He was dismissed by the Idaho State Board of Education in 1991 in a controversial decision. He continued to teach history at Boise State University until he became the president at Missouri State University from 1993 to 2005. He then retired back to the Boise area.

He and Nancy would have three sons, John, Sam, and Joe. John died January 19, 2016 in Boise, Idaho.