Rodney O'Neal is an American businessman.Forbes
/ref> He served as the president and chief executive officer of

Delphi Automotive Aptiv PLC is an Irish- American automotive technology supplier with headquarters in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Aptiv grew out of the now-defunct American company, Delphi Automotive Systems, which itself was formerly a component of General Moto ...

.Delphi biography
/ref>Sprint Nextel Board of Directors

Biography

Rodney O'Neal was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who stressed the importance of education very early on. In his early years, he delivered The Dayton Daily News, and at 13, was named newspaper delivery boy of the year. He later worked in the newspaper's circulation department until he left for college.

Early life

He graduated from the

General Motors Institute Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers Bachelor of Science, bachelor of science and master's degree, master’s degrees in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM (science, technology, engineer ...

, now Kettering University, and received a Master's degree from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

He joined

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

in 1976 as a production engineer, making steering wheels. A year later, he was promoted to front line supervisor. Over the course of the next several years, he would hold a number of engineering, production and manufacturing positions in locations throughout the United States, Portugal and Canada. In 1997, he became vice president of General Motors and general manager of Delphi Interior Systems. In 1998, when Delphi became an independent company, he became vice president. Since 2007, he has served as president and CEO. In November 2011, O'Neal rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark Delphi's initial public offering. He sits on the board of directors of Delphi and

Sprint Nextel Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 5 ...

. He is also a board member of the Michigan Manufacturers Association and

Woodward, Inc. Woodward, Inc. is an American designer, manufacturer, and service provider of control systems and control system components (e.g. fuel pumps, engine controls, actuators, air valves, fuel nozzles, and electronics) for aircraft engines, industrial e ...

He formerly served on the board of directors of the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

. He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization which supports African-Americans in leadership positions in business, education, or the community. He also sits on the board of Inroads, an organization which aims to offer internships in the corporate world to ethnic minorities. He sits on the advisory board of Focus: HOPE, a

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

-based organization which tackles racism and poverty. In 2015 he was named to the 75th class of the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum honoring influential figures in the history of the automotive industry. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, US. The Hall of Fame is part of the MotorCities National Herita ...

Personal

His cousin is

Stan O'Neal Earnest Stanley O'Neal (born October 7, 1951) is a retired American business executive. He was CEO of Merrill Lynch from 2002 to 2007, and chairman and CEO from 2003 to 2007, having worked at the firm since 1986. He was the first African-America ...

, the former chairman and CEO of

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

.Cassidy, John (March 24, 2008)
Subprime Suspect.
''The New Yorker''.

References

Kettering University alumni Stanford University alumni Businesspeople from Dayton, Ohio General Motors people Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company people Sprint Corporation people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American business executives American business executives 21st-century African-American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-stub