AST Welcomes Interim President, Dr. Tim O’Neill

Dr. O’Neill brings over 50 years' managerial and executive experience at both the national and international level combined with a strong understanding of the local and regional post-secondary education landscape.

A career economist, Dr. O’Neill has served most recently as the founder and principal of O’Neill Strategic Economics. He has extensive Canadian and US private sector experience in financial services and economic consulting as well as public sector experience at both the provincial and federal levels. Since 1970, he has been involved, in either a fulltime or part-time capacity, in the university sector in Canada and the US. He earned his PhD in Economics from Duke University and has taught at Duke University, Saint Mary’s University and UPEI.

He has published numerous papers on a wide variety of public policy issues and has authored reports for a number of provincial governments and for the federal government.

Along with his senior executive experience in the private sector, Dr. O’Neill’s leadership roles in the non-profit sector have included Chair, Joint Grants Committee, United Church of Canada; Director, United Church of Canada Foundation; Director, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and Director, ABC Canada Literacy Foundation. Dr. O’Neill brings strong team-building and problem-solving skills and the vision to guide us through the beginning stages of our Strategic Plan.

Dr. O’Neill has been deeply involved with the United Church at the local, regional and national levels for over 40 years. He has strong ties to AST and its unique focus on theological education through his longtime association with numerous alumni and past and current faculty of the School.

He is married to Lois and has 2 children and 2 grandchildren. He currently divides his time between Halifax and PEI.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. O’Neill to the AST community.

--Dr. Peter Secord Chair, Board of Governors