Business and management consultant Robert T. O’Neill, appointed state lottery director in December 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown, received a bachelor of arts in economics from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Sacramento. After college, he served in the U.S. Air Force between 1973-1975 as squadron section commander and executive support officer for a 350-person Field Maintenance Squadron.

After leaving the military, O’Neill joined the California Auditor General’s office, where he managed the conduct of performance audits of state and local government agencies for the California Legislative Audit Committee. He worked there from 1977-1982 before taking a job managing local and state government consulting projects at Peat Marwick, Mitchell & Co.

O’Neill returned briefly to the public sector in 1986 as executive director for the Little Hoover Commission, an independent government watchdog. His old employer, Peat Marwick, merged with Klynveld Main Goerdeler in 1987 to form KPMG, LLP and a year later O’Neill joined it as a principal. O’Neill left KPMG in 1994 to become executive vice president of CAST Management Consultants and stayed two years. From 1996-2003, he was managing director of BearingPoint, formerly KPMG Consulting.

O’Neill returned again in 2003 as principal to KPMG, where he directed its Western Region State and Local Government Practice that provided audit and tax services.

He is a certified government financial manager with the Association of Government Accountants and a certified project management professional with the Project Management Institute.

O’Neill is registered decline-to-state.

Management Team (Lottery website)

Jerry Brown Names New Director to California Lottery (by Dan Smith, Sacramento Bee)

Governor Names New Director for Calif. Lottery (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Robert O’Neill (LinkedIn)