Speakers
Robert O'Neill
Robert J. O’Neill, Jr., is executive director of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the membership organization dedicated to creating excellence in local government through professional management. Founded in 1914, ICMA currently provides an information clearinghouse, technical assistance, and training and professional development to nearly 8,000 chief appointed administrators, assistant administrators, and other individuals throughout the world. The Association’s resources and services reach thousands of local, county, and state government professionals, academics, and consultants.
Prior to joining ICMA in December 2002, Mr. O’Neill served as president of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) from January 2000 to November 2002. NAPA is a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress to improve the design and management of federal, state, and local governments. From May through September of 2001, O’Neill was on temporary assignment at the Office of Budget and Management as Counselor to the Director and Deputy Director on management issues and to coordinate various policy and program issues with government-wide management councils, including the President's Management Council, Chief Financial Officers Council, Chief Information Officers Council, Procurement Executives Council, and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency.
O’Neill served as Fairfax County Executive between 1997 and 2000. In that position, he oversaw Virginia’s largest general-purpose local government with an annual operating budget of $2 billion and approximately 11,000 employees. He is credited with developing a series of strategies aimed at revitalizing older residential communities and commercial areas within Fairfax County. In 1999, he launched a series of initiatives focused on performance and results management, including a pay system with variable awards based on performance.
O’Neill’s "reinvention" of the government of Hampton, Virginia as city manager between 1984 and 1997 was widely recognized by organizations such as the National League of Cities and Public Technology, Inc. and by writers such as David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, authors of Reinventing Government. In the 1997 book Banishing Bureaucracy, by Osborne and Peter Plastrik, O’Neill’s efforts form the basis of a chapter on "Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture" in government organizations. Among O’Neill’s many accomplishments were a downtown and waterfront revitalization initiative and development of a nationally recognized “youth-at-risk” program.
In 2003 O’Neill was the recipient of the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration’s Elmer B. Staat’s Award for Accountability in Government. In 2001 he received The Spirit of Public Service award—the highest award presented by The Maxwell School of Syracuse University. In 1996 he was the recipient of the prestigious National Public Service Award presented by the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Society for Public Administration. The award recognizes individuals who have made a difference in public administration for a sustained length of time. In 1997 O’Neill was elected as an Academy Fellow.
In the early 80s, O’Neill was the Director of Management Consulting Services for the Virginia offices of Coopers & Lybrand, one of the former “big six” accounting firms. Previously he served as regional manager for the Management Improvement Corporation of America, providing financial analysis and organizational restructuring support for cities and counties throughout Virginia.
O’Neill graduated summa cum laude from Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1973. He received his Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1974. He is a 1984 graduate of The Executive Program of the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Laws from Old Dominion University and in 2005 Governor Warner appointed him to the Board of Visitors.
