The School of Public and Environmental Affairs, also known as SPEA, has now been renamed the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The school is named after the former US Secretary of Treasury, Paul H. O’Neill. He donated a $30 million dollar gift that includes more than the just a name change.

SPEA officials say the large donation will bring scholarships, fellowships, and a dean’s initiative fund, along with new faculty and professor positions. The school hopes to maintain the success that the graduate school has had in the past. U.S. News and World Report has ranked the school as having the #1 public affairs graduate programs.

O’Neill served under George W. Bush from 2001-2002 and he is also an IU graduate. He got his Master of Public Administration in 1966. After graduating from IU, he worked at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, RAND Corp., Alcoa, and International Paper Co.

Students and faculty are weighing in on this new change. Lori Garraghty, Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations at O’Neill SPEA believes that this gift will make a difference, especially regarding the faculty.

“We can attract new faculty and keep old faculty. We would not be the number one MPA school if we did not have amazing faculty,” said Garraghty.

Michael Jefferson is an O’Neill SPEA graduate and says he can understand why some students are wondering what this name means for regarding their degrees. But after students realize that $9.6 million is going towards scholarships and other funds, their thoughts can change.

“It really will actually give SPEA the opportunity to be greater than we were,” said Jefferson.

The Board of Trustee’s approved the change in December 2018 but the school did not officially take the name until March 4th. There will be a formal ceremony later in the year.

For more information on the changes you can visit the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs website here.