O'Neil, John Tettemer

John Tettemer O'Neil was born on July 25, 1913, in Henderson, North Carolina. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina in 1934 and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business in 1936. O'Neil worked on his doctoral degree at Northwestern from 1940 to 1943 and served in the army during 1944 and 1945. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in finance in 1948, his dissertation, based upon an analysis of the records of the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad Company, was entitled “The Formation and Application of Financial Policy”.

O'Neil worked during 1936-37 as a security analyst for the Tri Continental, Corporation and in 1938 served as treasurer of O'Neil's, Incorporated. He began his academic career at Lehigh University serving as an instructor in economics from 1938 to 1940. In 1940 he was an acting professor of economics at Moravian College. After the war O'Neil returned briefly to Northwestern and then moved to the University of North Carolina as an associate professor (1947-55) and professor (1956) of finance. He also served as assistant dean of the School of Business (1950-53) at North Carolina. From 1948 to 1950 he was a visiting professor of statistics at North Carolina College.

At Northwestern O'Neil was an instructor in business economics (1940-42) and statistics (1945-47) while working on his doctorate. In 1956 he returned to Northwestern from North Carolina as associate professor of business administration. He held this position until 1958 when he was promoted to full professor. In 1963 his title was changed to professor of finance, the rank he held at his death on August 5, 1977.

O'Neil also held several administrative positions at Northwestern. In 1946-47 he was assistant dean of the School of Commerce and in 1963 he served as coordinator for the quantitative controls in business program. He was academic director of the National High School Institute in Business in 1967.

While still a student O'Neil was awarded the Grail and Alpha Kappa Psi scholarships at the University of North Carolina where he also served as president of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter. His graduate work at Harvard was assisted by the Atlanta Alumni Scholarship. During his academic career O'Neil was given a fellowship by the Joint Committee on Education of the New York Stock Exchange Member Firms (Summer, 1948), and in 1954-55 the Scott Paper Company awarded him a fellowship as a consultant in finance. In 1959 and 1960 the Bell Telephone System hired him as a professional consultant and teacher in its management development research project.

O'Neil's work took him overseas several times. In 1960 he travelled to Egypt for the Ford Foundation as a professional consultant in management development. For two years (1968-69) O'Neil served the Istituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion, first as visiting professor and then as coordinator of the Instituto's advisory committee. These assignments took him to Caracas and several other cities in South and Central America. Other activities involved trips to Java and Thailand.

Despite his heavy load of teaching and consulting O'Neil also found time for scholarly research and writing. In 1956 the Harvard University Press published his Policy Formation in Railroad Finance and in 1965 R. D. Irwin published Quantitative Controls for Business, which O'Neil co-authored. He also wrote a large number of case studies, articles, and reports.

In 1937 O'Neil married Katherine McCloskey. The O'Neils had three children: John Tettemer, Jr., born Jan. 7, 1939; Barbara Newsom (Van Tosh), Mar. 31, 1940; and Katherine Ennis, Feb. 22, 1948.

O'Neil was considered by his colleagues and students to have been an excellent teacher both in the academic setting and as a consultant and adviser. His other significant contributions included his work in developing the collection of cases in the quantitative controls program and his productive efforts on be-half of the Istituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion.

From the guide to the John T. O'Neil (1913-1977) Papers, 1936-1977, (Northwestern University Archives)