Trustee Chair Geoff O'Neill

Trustee Chair Geoff O'Neill

Chair - Geoff O'Neill

Assistant Vice President, Institutional Advancement

Geoff O'Neill is the Chair of the University of California Trust (UK) and serves as the Assistant Vice President of Institutional Advancement for the Univeristy of California system. In this role, he is responsible for providing services to increase philanthropic support to the campuses, for policy development and oversight, and for endowment matters.

Geoff joined UC's Office of the President in 1998 as University Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, where he was responsible for all legal issues related to private support to the University, including negotiating and reviewing gift agreements; administering estates and trusts; providing counsel on complex planned giving arrangements; analyzing federal and state legislation; endowment administration; and advising the campuses and the Office of the President on policy issues in these areas. He became Assistant Vice President - Institutional Advancement on July 1, 2007.

Prior to coming to UC, Geoff was in private practice where he specialised in Estate Planning, Charitable Gift Planning, and Non-Profit Organisations. In addition to speaking at higher education conferences, Geoff has presented at the California State Bar's Annual Estate & Gift Tax Conference, the Western Regional Planned Giving Conference, and the Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bar. He received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from UC Berkeley and his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Geoff also serves on the Board of a number of organisations affiliated with the University of California, including the Lawrence Berkeley Lab Foundation and the University of California Foundation Limited (Hong Kong).