William “Tip” O’Neill Jr. has been an executive in the international fertilizer business for over 40 years. He has been with IRM since its founding in 1979. Based in Philadelphia, IRM is an international marketing company specializing in the wholesale distribution of fertilizers and industrial chemicals.
From 1970 to 1979, Tip was with Woodward and Dickerson, Inc., as a trainee, chartering manager, and then General Manager of Woodward’s Korean operations. His portfolio of responsibilities included regional fertilizer sales, the management of a major construction equipment dealership, and as Managing Director of a large tobacco processing joint venture with the Korean government. He then returned to Philadelphia as a Vice President to develop Woodward’s Bulk Commodities division. In that capacity he was co-founder of Petrosul International, one of Canada’s largest processors and exporters of elemental sulfur.
He also currently serves as the International Fertilizer Association’s Convenor for their Working Group for UN Outreach. He is also on the Board of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. He is a past Chair of the Fertilizer Industry Round Table, and has also served on the Executive Committee of the Agricultural Retailers Association, as a Director of The Fertilizer Institute, and Fertilizer Canada. He currently serves as an independent director and Audit Committee Chair for OCI Resources (OCIR.NYSE). Additionally he served as an Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair for Columbian Chemicals Company.
Tip is a 1970 graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (B.S. Economics). In 1988, he returned to Wharton attending the Advanced Management Program and in 2006 The Directors Consortium. He also is a graduate of and was an instructor for the U.S. Army Artillery Officers Candidate School. He subsequently served with the 5th Battalion 22nd Artillery.
Community interests include having served as a Trustee and Chair of the Board of Malvern Preparatory School, as a Trustee of the Agnes Irwin School, as a Trustee of the Bethesda Project, and as a founding Trustee of the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund. He currently serves on the Board and as the Treasurer of the Conshohocken Rowing Center and as Chair of the Board of Managers for Joseph’s House, an organization that cares for Camden, New Jersey’s homeless.