NEWS

Leader in city government ‘reinvention’ to give Deil S. Wright lecture Oct. 2

CHAPEL HILL -- Robert J. O’Neill, executive director of the International City-County Management Association, will address the interests of local governments in the federal system and his association’s role in articulating these interests on Oct. 2 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

O’Neill’s 11 a.m. address, "Articulating the Interests of Local Government in the Federal System," is the second lecture in UNC’s Deil S. Wright Speaker Series, sponsored by UNC’s School of Government. The lecture will be held in the school’s Knapp Building, located on the southwest corner of Raleigh and Country Club roads.

Appointed in 2002 as the ICMA’s executive director, O’Neill previously served as president of the National Academy of Public Administration, as county executive of Fairfax County, Va., and as city manager of Hampton.

In 2001, Syracuse University’s Maxwell School presented him with the Spirit of Public Service Award. He received the National Public Service Award, presented by the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Society for Public Administration, in 1996.

"Bob O’Neill’s contributions to local government management have been widely recognized," said Marchell Adams-David, president of UNC’s Master of Public Administration Alumni Association. "City and county governments face more challenges and opportunities for creative re-engineering than ever, and his work has added important knowledge to this field."

UNC’s MPA Alumni Association established the speaker series in 2001 to honor Dr. Deil S. Wright, Alumni distinguished professor of political science and public administration at UNC. Wright is the author of several books, including "Understanding Intergovernmental Relations," now in its third edition, and the recipient of the American Public Works Association’s Donald C. Stone Award for Excellence in Education, among others.

The School of Government includes the Institute of Government and master of public administration program. The school’s mission is to improve the lives of North Carolinians by engaging in practical scholarship of assistance to public officials and citizens.

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School of Government contact: Jessica Russell, (919) 962-0425 or mpastaff@iogmail.iog.unc.edu