Exploring the Global Economy

Studying the international marketplace is the mission of SMU’s William J. O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom in Cox School of Business.

The center was established at SMU in 2008 through a gift from William J. O’Neil ’55 and his wife, Fay O’Neil. It serves as a think tank on the global economy, examines the impact of social and political forces on international markets and provides insights into how businesses can operate effectively around the world.

Analyzing issues of access to markets, labor and capital – and how that access is changing – is an important focus of the center’s work.

O’Neil, who lives in Los Angeles, received his B.B.A. degree from SMU. He is the founder and chairman of William O’Neil + Company, the institutional investment research firm that compiled the world’s first daily securities database in 1963. Today it is one of the largest and most comprehensive stock market databases in the world and is used by more than 400 of the largest banks, mutual funds and insurance companies.

O’Neil launched Investor’s Business Daily in 1984. He is the author of How to Make Money in Stocks and hosts seminars on his CAN SLIM method of investment.

“Any top business school is known by the achievements of its alumni, and Bill O’Neil is a pioneer in his field,” says Albert W. Niemi, Jr., dean of Cox School of Business.

“The O’Neil Center is here because globalization is allowing Dallas to prosper, and it can continue to do so,” says director W. Michael Cox.

W. Michael Cox

“We’re gaining a number of businesses in the North Texas area, many of which are highly globalized. Texas Instruments sells 87 percent of its products abroad now. Ten years ago, that number was 68 percent. This area has become successful by becoming a globalized local community.”

At the same time, many of these businesses confront challenges similar to one another as they increase their international presence, says Cox, who teaches Doing Business in a Global World and Markets and Freedom in the Center.

“Who has access to markets, to labor, to capital? Are we getting it? What’s evolving in those areas? This is a place where we can learn more about these problems and their solutions. Those discussions will be part of how we will all make progress,” he says.

In recent years O’Neil gave funds to establish the O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism in Meadows School of the Arts. The program includes instruction in the Cox School.

To learn more about the O’Neil Center and Cox School of Business, please contact Robin Maness at 214-768-3890 or rmaness@cox.smu.edu.

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