Rene Stewart O’Neal

Rene Stewart O’Neal joined AGB Search in 2025 as an Executive Search Consultant. Ms. O’Neal has been a senior level strategic budget and financial planning executive at several major universities over the past 25 years, including George Mason University, George Washington University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Wellesley College.  

Ms. O’Neal most recently served as Vice President for Budget and Strategy/Executive Administration at George Mason University until her retirement on July 1. In this role, and in her previous post as Vice President for Strategic Budgeting & Planning, she worked in close partnership with institutional leadership to align financial strategy with academic and operational priorities.

Ms. O’Neal has extensive experience in senior leadership roles in budgeting, financial planning, and strategy at leading universities. She is known for building high-performing teams, leading change, and developing effective budget processes that support academic, research, and student success priorities.

Ms. O’Neal is a former American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow at NYU and currently serves on the board of EACUBO. She remains active in professional service and mentoring and lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband.