Dr. O’Neal is President Emeritus of Oklahoma Christian University (OC) where he served as the fifth President from 2002 to 2012, following a 26-year career as General Counsel, VP for Finance, and Vice Chancellor at Pepperdine University. Until 2018 he served as the first Chancellor of the University of Rwanda.
He is an alumnus of OC and Harding University where he received his BA in Accounting and Business. A licensed attorney in California and Arkansas, he received his JD degree from Stanford University after serving as a U.S. Navy officer in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He scored 1st in Oklahoma and 17th in the nation on the CPA examination, and worked with the accounting firms Ernst & Ernst, Touche, Ross & Co, and Coopers & Lybrand.
Dr. O’Neal has been a member of the California and Arkansas Bar Associations, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Oklahoma and Arkansas Boards of Public Accountancy, and Rotary Club 29 in Oklahoma City. He has served on numerous boards including Kimray, Mercy Hospital of Oklahoma City (chair), Salt and Light Leadership Training (founding chair), Rwanda Presidential Advisory Council, Ohio Valley University, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, The Christian Chronicle, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, California Christian School, ACE Educational Foundation, Bioenergy Capital Corporation, Bridge-2-Rwanda, Water Access Rwanda, Heritage 21 Foundation (chair), Last Frontier Council of Boy Scouts of America, United Way of Greater Oklahoma City, Baxter Institute in Honduras, and Shepherds Hill International (chair).
Dr. O’Neal and his wife Nancy are members of the churches of Christ where Dr. O’Neal has served as an elder, Bible class teacher, song leader, preacher, vocational missionary, ministry leader, and building committee chair. They have two children and six grandsons.