In Memoriam: Robert M. O’Neil

Robert M. O’Neil, former president of the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin System, died at his home in Washington, DC on Sunday, Sept. 30. He was 83.

An ALI member since, 1998, Mr. O’Neil earned an undergraduate degree and a Master’s Degree in American History from Harvard University and an LLB from the Harvard Law School, going on to serve as Law Clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court in the 1962 Term. He served as President of the University of Wisconsin System from 1980-1985 and President of the University of Virginia from 1985-1990. 

UVA President Jim Ryan said of Mr. O’Neil’s passing, “He leaves a remarkable legacy. As a law professor, he combined deep expertise in the First Amendment with a love of the classroom, teaching a course almost every semester for 50 years. And as president, he helped make it clear that students from every background and walk of life have a place at UVA.”

Throughout his administrative duties, Mr. O’Neil continued to teach at least one course in constitutional law every semester. Over his 50 years of teaching law, he mentored hundreds of students and authored dozens of articles on academic freedom, affirmative action, free speech and religious liberty.

After his retirement from university administration, Mr. O’Neil became the Founding Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center, a non-profit, non-partisan research and policy center based in Charlottesville, VA, and served in that role from 1990-2010. 

A full obituary from UVA can be found here.