Paul H. O'Neill Graduate Center Dedication Ceremony

The 29,000-square-foot, $12 million Paul H. O’Neill Graduate Center at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) is providing the school’s graduate programs with much-needed space for teaching, learning, research, and service activities.

The newly completed three-level structure adjoins the original SPEA building and face Tenth Street, affording the school greater visibility and ease of access. The O'Neill Center is dedicated to the specific interests and needs of graduate students, who until now have shared outgrown space with SPEA’s increasing undergraduate population.

Generous financial support from O’Neill, a former U.S. secretary of the treasury and a 1966 Master of Public Affairs recipient from IU, has made the project a reality.

The Honorable Paul H. O’Neill has had distinguished careers in national government, industry, and the nonprofit sector. In addition to serving as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, he spent 13 years as the chairman and chief executive officer of the international aluminum corporation, Alcoa. O’Neill has also been a longtime advocate of improving the quality of the nation’s healthcare systems. He co-founded the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative to drive dramatic quality improvement in healthcare. The nonprofit’s work resulted in a significant reduction in hospital-acquired infection and has become a national model for improving patient care and reducing medical costs.

The secong-floor commons in the O'Neill Center is named in honor of philanthropist and longtime SPEA supporters David and Cecile Wang. David Wang, founding chair of the SPEA Dean's Council, is the former senior operating partner of Atlas Holdings, the former executive vice president and board member of International Paper, and the former director of corporate development and vice president/general manager of the Union Carbide Corporation. Among their many public service causes are the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center, Eisenhower Fellowships, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Coalition of the Immokalee Workers.