Life and Legacy of Paul H.

O’Neill, MPA’66

Early Life
• Born into a military family in St. Louis.
Met his wife, Nancy, at Anchorage High School.
They have four children, twelve grandchildren,
and nine great-grandchildren.

1960s
• Worked as a computer systems analyst with the
U.S. Veterans Administration.
• Earned his MPA from Indiana University as a
National Institute of Public Affairs Fellow.
• Served ten years as a budget manager with the
U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

1970s-1990s
• Appointed CEO and board chair of Alcoa, dramatically
improving Alcoa’s safety record while increasing the
company’s market value from $3 billion in 1986 to
$27.5 billion in 2000.
• Co-founded the nonprofit Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare
Initiative.

2000s
• Appointed the 72 secretary of the treasury.
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• Helped restore confidence in the aftermath of 9/11 by

setting up a special task force to combat terrorist financing.
• Advocated for policy action on climate change.

2010s
• Appointed to the board of the nation’s premier research
hospital, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Research Hospital.
• Paul H. O’Neill Graduate Center opened for students in
Bloomington in 2017.
• Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
renamed to honor his life and legacy in 2019.