William Oliver ’64, GSAS’65, Former Director of Columbia College Alumni Affairs

William Oliver ’64, GSAS’65, who worked in admissions and alumni affairs for more than 25 years, died on March 1, 2026, in Cooperstown, N.Y. He was 84.

After earning an M.A. in comparative literature from GSAS, Oliver began his career in the College’s Admissions Office, eventually becoming the youngest director in its history. He worked in alumni affairs at the University for 16 years before being hired at The Glimmerglass Festival in 1994.

Oliver’s impact was felt across the alumni affairs community. Upon his departure, then-Dean of College Relations James McMenamin told CCT that it was “an untold loss to Columbia’s institutional memory, to hundreds of relationships he forged between alumni and the University.”

Oliver was born in Great Falls, Va., on Feb. 4, 1942, and spent part of his childhood on a U.S. military base in Germany. He studied English as an undergraduate before moving on to graduate school and eventually leaving academia for his career at the University. Oliver met his partner of 64 years, Michael Willis ’64, while at the College; the two were married on Sept. 17, 2011. Willis predeceased him on Feb. 16, 2024.

Oliver and Willis were lifelong opera fans. In the mid-1980s, they were introduced to The Glimmerglass Festival, which stages operas in Cooperstown, N.Y., each summer. The couple built a second home in the area and continued to attend productions as the festival expanded from its original home in a local high school to a permanent theater.

The expansion continued as Paul Kellogg, the festival’s artistic and general director, hired Oliver as its first full-time development director. Oliver worked at Glimmerglass for 10 years. His husband, Willis, was also hired as director of public relations.

Even after leaving Columbia, Oliver continued to facilitate relationships. He was close with Jacques Barzun CC 1927, GSAS 1932, and eventually brought Barzun to Glimmerglass for a series of lectures in the 1990s. Oliver also knew composer Jack Beeson through the Columbia University Opera Workshop; he helped make the connections necessary to stage Beeson’s Lizzie Borden at the festival before the production moved to the New York City Opera.

Oliver is survived by his cousins, Willard (Judy), Deborah Bour and Nadine Lindgren; and several nieces and nephews.