Oliva has been at NYU since 1960 and has been an administrator there--a dean, vice president, provost and chancellor--since 1972.
A Russian history professor, Oliva was appointed president in 1991--the first faculty member to serve as president of NYU.
He holds degrees from Manhattan College and Syracuse University.
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Rupp served as president of Rice University from 1985-1993, before assuming his current post at Columbia. At Rice, he is credited with helping to triple applications and more than doubling the endowment.
Before going to Rice, Rupp was the O'Brian professor of divinity and dean of the Harvard Divinity School. He received a doctorate in education from Harvard in 1972.