IU's SPEA Renamed O'Neill School After Alum's $30M Gift

Becca Costello

Paul H. O'Neill.
*James Brosher/Indiana University*

Indiana University's highly-regarded School of Public and Environmental Affairs is now called the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The change took effect Monday in honor of O'Neill's recent $30 million donation.

O’Neill is a former secretary of the U.S. Treasury and CEO of Alcoa Corporation. He graduated from IU in 1966.

"He’s been a strong supporter of our school throughout the years," says Senior Associate Director of Marketing Communications Emily Cox. "Most recently he donated $3 million to help us establish our graduate center, which was opened in 2017."

The Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. (Eric Rudd/Indiana University)

IU will use some of the money to establish a new Center on Leadership in Public Service. Cox says the rest will be divided among several projects and initiatives.

"We’re going to be able to use some of those funds for new graduate fellowships, for new undergraduate fellowships, and we’ll also use it to be able to recruit new faculty through some chairs and professorships," Cox says.

The name change applies to both the IU Bloomington and IUPUI campus schools.

O’Neill will be at a formal renaming ceremony in September.

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