Paul Olum scrapbook , circa 2001

Paul Olum (1918 - 2001) was an American mathematician, professor of mathematics, and university administrator who served as President of the University of Oregon from 1980-1989.

Paul Olum was born in Binghamton, New York. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1940. In 1942 he married Vivian Goldstein, completed an MA in Physics at Princeton University, and joined the scientific staff of the Manhattan Project. He returned to Harvard after World War II to complete his Ph.D. in 1947. Following a postdoctoral year at the Institute for Advanced Study, Olum joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1949, where he remained for the next twenty-five years. As a mathematician, Olum was widely respected for his research in algebraic topology and made significant contributions in the area of obstruction theory.

From 1974 to 1976, Olum served as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976, Olum was named provost at the University of Oregon, becoming president in 1980. During his tenure, the University of Oregon started twenty new research institutes and academic programs and completed several multimillion-dollar campus construction projects. In 1987, the Execultive Committee of the State Board of Education required Olum to retire by June 30, 1989, despite significant student and faculty protests.

Olum retired to Greece in 1990 after leaving the University of Oregon, and remained abroad until 1996. Paul Olum died on January 19, 2001.