We report on a systematic study of a number of structurally identical but chemically distinct transition metal oxides in order to determine how the material-specific properties such as the composition and the strain affect the properties at the interface of heterostructures. Our study considers a series of structures containing two layers of ferromagnetic SrRuO3, with antiferromagnetic insulating manganites sandwiched in between. The results demonstrate how to control the strength and relative orientation of interfacial ferromagnetism in correlated electron materials by means of valence state variation and substrate-induced strain, respectively. © 2010 The American Physical Society.