rupp was born in bremerhaven, germany on january 3, 1943 and migrated to oakland, california with her family at the age of 10. she became interested in architecture as a child during the german reconstruction boom after world war ii and went on to study architecture at the university of california, berkeley, graduating in 1966; she received her california architecture license in 1971. upon graduation rupp worked for several architectural firms, including van bourg/nakamura associates of san francisco, d'amico associates of mill valley, hawley & peterson of mountain valley and spencer associates of palo alto.