
Written by: Leslie Wells and Ken Bikoff
2022 marks a major milestone for majoring in making a difference. It’s the 50th anniversary of the founding of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs—a recognition of five decades of O’Neill students, alumni, faculty, and staff changing the world.
“The O’Neill School’s great strength is its unique ability to support science in service to society,” said Dean Siân Mooney. “O’Neill alumni have a long record of leadership and accomplishments, creating and implementing public policies that make a positive difference for Indiana and beyond.”
That tradition began in 1972, when Indiana University announced it was creating a new school, one that would focus on solving the world’s problems through a multisector approach to public service.
“There was considerable concern among faculty, staff, and students that we needed to make the university relevant to solving the problems of the real world,” Charles Bonser noted during the school’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2012.
Bonser was the founding dean of what was then known as the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
Six years after the school was established, it expanded into the heart of Indianapolis at IUPUI. The new location provided O’Neill and its students with direct access to a bustling downtown city center, ripe with urban opportunities for involvement in state government as well as high-profile nonprofit and private-sector organizations that could make an impact on the community and beyond.
The new location also provided room for the expansion of O’Neill’s programs. In addition to degrees in public affairs, management, and sustainability, O’Neill IUPUI provided new opportunities for students to study criminal justice and public safety management all within a major metropolitan area. (more…)