Robert M. O'Neil

Robert Marchant O'Neil (October 16, 1934 – September 30, 2018) was an American lawyer and educator. A specialist in constitutional law, he served as president of the University of Virginia (1985–1990) and created the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, whose director he became (1990–2010). During these years, O'Neil remained associated with the university's law school, where he taught courses in the First Amendment and the Arts, Speech and Press, Church and State, and Free Speech in Cyberspace.

Early and family life O'Neil was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 16, 1934. The following year, he received a master's degree (MA), and received a Bachelor in Law degree (LLB) from Harvard Law School in 1961.

Teaching career After graduating from law school, O'Neil served as a law clerk for Justice William J. Brennan of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1962–1963 term. In 1963, he joined the law faculty of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Administrative career In 1972, O'Neil began a career in academic administration after accepting a position of vice president and provost for academic affairs of the University of Cincinnati, rising to executive vice president of academic affairs the following year.

In 1985, O'Neil became president of the University of Virginia, although he continued in other associations. For example, he served as general counsel of the Committee of the American Association of University Professors. He held this position for two years in the early 1970s and another two years in the early 1990s. He became president of this committee in 1999. For almost two decades he was a trustee for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Educational Testing Service and the Johnson Foundation. He held the chairmanship of several organizations, including the National Association of State Universities, Land-Grant Colleges, and the boards of directors of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. He was an executive member of the Association of American Universities and WVPT Public Television, the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Journal and the National Advisory Board of the American Civil Liberties Union.

O'Neil was the director of the Ford Foundation's Difficult Dialogues Initiative. He also participated on the Board of Consulting Editors of Trusteeship, journal of the Association of Governing Boards, journal of the Association of Governing Boards.

Publications O’Neil has written numerous articles for law reviews and other journals and is the author of several books, including: