MEET Noor Borbieva O'Neill 

Professor of Anthropology

Professor O’Neill, professor of anthropology, is a cultural anthropologist who worked for many years in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. Her research, on religion, development, and gender in the former Soviet Union, has been published in numerous journals and as the monograph, Visions of Development in Central Asia: Revitalizing the Culture Concept (2019), published by Lexington Press. Since 2020 she has been conducting research with Professor David Cochran (director of the PFW Center of Excellence in Systems Engineering) on using Collective System Design for university improvement. 

Professor O’Neill has been teaching at PFW since 2009. Before joining the faculty in Fort Wayne, she was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame. She also serves as the President of the Indiana Conference of the American Association of University Professors. 

In her spare time, Professor O’Neill enjoys long-distance running, hiking, and attending bluegrass jams. She lives in Fort Wayne with her husband, two sons, and one cat.