Nathan Cooley Keep (1800–1875) was a pioneer in the field of dentistry, and the founding Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

[3][4][5] He was a critical participant in the Parkman murder trial, the first time that dental work was introduced as forensic evidence.

Keep had made an unusual gold prosthesis to fit Parkman’s unique and prominent lower jaw.

[6] Ultimately, John White Webster, a professor of chemistry at the Medical School, was convicted and hanged for the murder of George Parkman.

[9] Keep's administrative insistence upon "right and justice above expediency" in the Freeman case exemplified inherent leadership qualities that helped to establish an aura of fairness and morality that up to today has reflected with favor upon the university.