Robert E. O’Neill receives Distinguished Alumni Award

The Ohio State University at Newark honored Robert E. O’Neill with this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

O’Neill was presented with the annual award at the Alumni and Friends Homecoming Dinner on Oct. 8. He graduated from Ohio State in 1985 as an accomplished men’s lacrosse captain with a degree in photography, just a snapshot of the well-roundedness that has defined his career. 

 He began as a salesman at Southgate Corporation, a Newark-based real estate development company founded by his father. In 1989, O’Neill was promoted to company president, a post he still holds today. He has helped develop manufacturing and industrial properties that have attracted dozens of new and growing companies to the region. He guided the creation of three local business parks. 

As a community advocate, the Granville resident has generated perhaps an even bigger impact. O’Neill has served on boards and committees for almost 10 different institutions, among them Park National Bank, the Licking County Foundation, Newark Campus Development Fund (NCDF) and Licking Memorial Health Systems. He has supported local efforts for affordable housing and childcare. He and Alexa established a scholarship for adult learners at Ohio State Newark who are reentering higher education, with priority given to Licking County residents. 

“Bettering the community,” Alexa said, “is just baked into him.”

O'Neill's achievements and advocacy ultimately earned him this recognition as a distinguished alumnus. Through four decades of developing community infrastructure, creating jobs and encouraging more opportunities for prosperity, the prolific connector has served as an extension of this campus’s ethos. 

Just ask his wife, who has seen those efforts firsthand. “It makes Robert such an amazing asset and representative of what Ohio State Newark stands for.”