It is with heartfelt sadness that the trustees and staff of the Asian Cultural Council mourn the passing of Lifetime Trustee and longtime friend Abby Milton O’Neill. 

Mrs. O’Neill served on ACC’s Board from 1990 until 2013, at which time she was named a Life Trustee. Her tenure as an ACC Trustee was one of great generosity and wise counsel.  With a deep commitment to the visionary work of her uncle, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, and his vision for greater understanding and respect between the United States and Asia, Abby played a critical leadership role in the growth and success of the ACC for nearly 30 years.   

Together with her husband George, Abby contributed significant time and resources to advance ACC’s program. She served on ACC’s Strategic Task Force and helped establish the ACC For the Future Fund.  She also helped oversee the establishment of partner foundations in Taiwan and the Philippines which resulted in an exponential increase in ACC’s grant-making capacity. Abby was always a champion of ACC’s staff and grantees. She was an avid traveler and frequently attended exhibitions, concerts, and performances of ACC grantees, not simply to see, listen, and learn but also to get to know ACC fellows on a personal level.  

Abby’s legacy will continue to inspire us for many generations to come. We are especially fortunate to have her daughter, ACC’s current Chairman Wendy O’Neill, leading our organization as we work with the thousands of artists and scholars who benefited from Abby’s generous commitment to build a better and more peaceful world.

(left: ACC Chairman Wendy O’Neill with her mother, Lifetime Trustee Abby O’Neill, at Pocantico in 2008; right: Abby and George O’Neill [center] in 2006 with faculty at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia)