By Ali Leding, Staff Writer
Timothy O’Neal has been a professor at Eastern since 2015. The Professor of Speech also teaches in the humanities since his background is in theatre. Between his teaching assignments and being the Faculty Adviser of the Eastern Student Government Association, there is a good chance that most students will see O’Neal in some capacity while at Eastern.
O’Neal grew up in several different places due to his father being in the Army. Those places were Champagne, Illinois; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Watchucka, Arizona; Commerce, Texas; Eatontown, New Jersey; but he lived mostly in New Orleans, Louisiana. In fact, he says New Orleans is his favorite town since he spent the most time there.
O’Neal was a theatre major in college. He got into theatre because he liked “doing different voices. I liked performing even though I was shy. So my sophomore year in high school, I auditioned for a play and got in.”
O’Neal’s favorite theatre memory was when he was the lead role in a play in college and he was standing on stage and completely losing his place and then shouting random words. He kept yelling words at his co-actors in hopes something would trigger his memory and, eventually, his friends caught on and began to help him out. Eventually, O’Neal went into directing after his time in the theatre.
He has been teaching for five years at Eastern. O’Neal’s favorite color is dark green and his favorite food is Pho, which is a Vietnamese beef noodle soup. His favorite pastime is playing video games, and his most-valued game is called, “Persona Five.” O’Neal’s favorite show to watch is “Mystery Science 3000.”
“I have three different places,” answered O’Neal when asked about where he would travel. “Scandanavia because some of his favorite playwrights are there. Japan, because I find the culture interesting and I would like to explore the different places. Then renting a car in Australia, and then taking the highway that goes all around the continent.”
