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The Alumni Citation Award, established in 1969, recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions to society through professional, civic and philanthropic work. O’Brien came to Mansfield after serving four years in the Marines, including one year in Vietnam. After graduating in 1969 with a B.A. in geography, he took graduate courses at the University of Akron and later completed a Master’s of Business and Public Administration at Southern University in 1978. He is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Institute of the University of Virginia.
O’Brien has served the communities he has lived in, both as a professional and a volunteer. During the 25-plus years he has served as County Administrator of Rockingham County in Virginia, the county has transitioned from a rural to a suburbanizing community with a population increase of more than 20,000. Under O’Brien’s leadership, Rockingham County, with a population of more than 100,000, has replaced or modernized three high schools, two middle schools and six elementary schools at a cost of more than $100 million dollars.
He has also initiated several cooperative efforts with the city of Harrisonburg to improve the quality of service for residents, including the consolidation of social services, the implementation of enhanced 911 service and the establishment of an emergency operations center to provide fire and rescue dispatching services for the region.
O’Brien was recently reappointed as chairman of the Virginia Resources Authority by Governor Mark Warner. He and his wife Jeanie live near the village of Port Republic, VA, where O’Brien is active in the Harrisonburg Rotary Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks Lodge, the United Way, serves as a soup kitchen coordinator, and is a member of the Society for the Port Republic Preservationists.
He is the father of three children.