President Oswald, a native of Minnesota, did his undergraduate work in botany at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana. A Phi Beta Kappa scholar, he received his Ph.D. from the University of California in 1942. Following graduation, Dr. Oswald attended Navy Officer Training school at Notre Dame and Northwestern Universities. He served as a PT boat captain in the Mediterranean theater and later as executive officer of the Motor Torpedo Boat Ferrying Command in New Orleans.

In 1946, Dr. Oswald returned to the Davis Campus of the University of California as assistant professor of plant pathology. He became chairman of the department of plant pathology at the Berkeley Campus in 1954 and began concurrent service as an administrative officer in the office of the chancellor in 1958. In 1962 he was named vice president for administration in the statewide system for the University of California.

Dr. Oswald was named president of the University of Kentucky in 1963 where he led the establishment of fifteen branch campuses.

In 1968, Dr. Oswald returned to the University of California as executive vice president of the nine campus system. He became president of Penn State in 1970. Upon his retirement in 1983, Dr. Oswald established a home in Philadelphia and was provided with an office at the University's Ogontz Campus.