Michael W. O'Neill was the Cullen Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston. He joined the faculty of the Cullen College of Engineering in 1974, after receiving his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970, and serving as a research associate with the Center for Highway Research and senior engineer with Southwestern Laboratories, Inc. until 1974.
Mike's research interests were in foundation engineering and allied fields. He was principal or co-principal investigator for 56 externally funded research projects. He authored over 200 papers, books, and peer-reviewed reports related to his scholarly pursuits.
In recognition of his activities, Dr. O'Neill was awarded the ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, the ASCE State-of-the-Art in Civil Engineering Award and the Karl Terzaghi Lectureship of ASCE, in addition to several other university, state, national, and international awards.
Dr. O'Neill served as chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, as chair of the Executive Committee of the Geotechnical Engineering Division of ASCE and in numerous other leadership positions. He supervised and graduated 22 Masters and 15 Ph.D. students in Civil Engineering.