Melvin L. Oliver

Oliver was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1950, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.[2] Oliver earned his Bachelor of Arts at William Penn University and his Master of Arts and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis.[3]

Oliver served as the executive dean at the UCSB College of Letters and Science, where he was also the Sara Miller McCune Dean of Social Sciences and a professor of sociology. In addition to his career in academics, Oliver has served as the vice president of the Asset Building and Community Development Program at the Ford Foundation. Oliver worked as a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1978 to 1996, and helped establish the UCLA Center for the Study of Urban Poverty.[4] Within the past few years, Oliver has encountered much criticism in terms of his relation to Pitzer College students. The college is known for being the only college within the Claremont Consortium to incorporate student governance within the administration. However, Oliver has been the only president to veto resolutions within the student government, notably both pertaining to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Saction) movement - which has been overwhelmingly supported by both students, the student government, staff, and faculty.