Jack O'Neill (businessman)

Jack O'Neill

O'Neill (left) with United States Congressman Sam Farr
Born (1923-03-27)March 27, 1923[1]
Denver, Colorado
Citizenship American
Home town Santa Cruz, California
Children 7

Jack O'Neill is an American businessman, often credited with the invention of the wetsuit.[2] In 1952 he founded the O'Neill brand while opening one of California's first surf shops in a garage on the Great Highway in San Francisco, close to his favorite bodysurfing break at the time.[2] This led to the establishment of a company that deals in wetsuits, surf gear, and clothing.[3] Jack O'Neill's name is attached to surfwear and his brand of surfing equipment.[4] Although O'Neill is widely believed to be the inventor of the wetsuit, an investigation concluded that UC Berkeley physicist Hugh Bradner was most likely the original inventor.[5]

In December 1996 he also began a non profit organization called O'Neill Sea Odyssey which provides students with hands-on lessons in marine biology and that teaches the relationship between the oceans and the environment.[6]

O'Neill resides on a beachfront property in Santa Cruz, California, where he has lived since 1959.[7][8]

He graduated from the University of Portland, per the University of Portland Alumni Office.

Awards

in 2002, O'Neil was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award Recipient for the Northern California Region.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Floater. "Surf legend Jack O'Neill hits 89". http://www.epicsurf.com.au/. Retrieved 25 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  2. 1 2 Drew Kampion and Ben Marcus (December 2009). "Jack O'Neill". Surfing Encyclopedia. Surfline, Inc. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Willis, Clint (2003). Big Wave: Stories of Riding the World's Wildest Water. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-56025-501-7.
  4. ↑ Guisado, Raul; Jeff Klaas (2005). Surfing California: A Complete Guide to the Best Breaks on the California Coast. Globe Pequot. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7627-2966-1.
  5. ↑ Eisenstadt, David (11 October 2005). "Surfing whodunit". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ "Senator Boxer Gives "Conservation Champion" Award to O'Neill Sea Odyssey" (Press release). Barbara Boxer. 2005-05-27.
  7. ↑ Klinger, Max (May 27, 2012). "Jack O'Neill, 89, a surfing legend who endures". San Francisco Chronicle. SFGate.com. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  8. ↑ "How wet-suit pioneer Jack O’Neill shaped surfing culture" By Eric Gustafson, August 7, 2015 sfgate.com
  9. ↑ Jack O'Neill Honored SURFER Magazine. N.p., 27 June 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Further reading

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