[3] He has served on the scientific program committees for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the DOE-NSF National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory, the NSF's Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle, the International Particle Data Group, and the NSF's Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara.

[3] He was the co-chair of the working group for the President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on STEM teaching at colleges and universities, which in 2012 produced the acclaimed report, “Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.”[3] He has served on the technical advisory committee for the Association of American Universities’ Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, and is vice chair of the National Science Board’s Committee on Education and Human Resources.

[1] His research also covers high-performance computing (HPC) or large scale numerical simulations of non-perturbative lattice QCD, leading in part to a range of calculations at different observation sizes – quarks, gluons and hadron masses, coupling constants and mixing angles in the Standard Model, magnetic moment of muons and allowed to determine the QCD contributions for precision testing of the Standard Model (distinguishable from possible contributions of new physics beyond the standard model).

His research resulted in the VEGAS algorithm for adaptive method for reducing error in Monte Carlo simulations in interaction physics by using a known or approximate probability distribution function.

[2] O'Connor studied pharmacology at Stanford, worked in biochemistry at Cornell and served on the Ithaca City School District Board of Education.