George Rupp

George Rupp became president of the International Rescue Committee on July 1, 2002. For the previous nine years, Dr. Rupp was president of Columbia University. During his tenure, he focused on enhancing undergraduate education, on strengthening the relationship of the campus to surrounding communities and New York City as a whole, and on increasing the university’s international orientation. He also completed both a financial restructuring of the university and a $2.84 billion fundraising campaign.

Prior to his time at Columbia, Dr. Rupp served as president of Rice University, where in the course of his eight year tenure, applications for admission almost tripled, federal research support more than doubled, and the value of the Rice endowment increased by more than $500 million to $1.25 billion. Earlier, he was the John Lord O’Brian Professor of Divinity and dean of the Harvard Divinity School. Under his leadership, the curriculum of the school was revised to address more directly the pluralistic character of contemporary religious life.

Born in New Jersey, Dr. Rupp has studied and conducted research for extended periods in both Europe and Asia. He was awarded an A.B. from Princeton University in 1964, a B.D. from Yale Divinity School in 1967, and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1972. He is the author of numerous articles and five books, including Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community (2006). George Rupp and his wife Nancy are the parents of two adult daughters who are teaching and writing with scholarly expertise in East Asian and African studies.