Melvin L. Oliver is an American academic administrator and professor who served as the sixth president of Pitzer College.
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] Oliver's tenure at Pitzer included the controversial vetoing of a vote to suspend the college's study abroad program at the University of Haifa to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
[5] On February 3, Oliver announced his plans to retire from his post as the president of Pitzer College at the end of the 2021–2022 academic year.