H. Bentley Glass
Stony Brook University, The State University of New York
January 17, 1906 - January 16, 2005
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Scientific Discipline: Genetics Membership Type:
Emeritus
(elected 1959)
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Geneticist H. Bentley Glass was recognized for his contributions to genetics and for promoting secondary education in the sciences. Glass focused his studies on the genetic consequences of nuclear radiation from atomic-bomb testing, genetic variances amongst races, and the need for early detection of physical and mental defects in children. He spoke out as a firm critic of mainline eugenics and stressed the importance of reform in social and economic conditions in order for genetic evolution to occur. Glass also published numerous articles on genetic evolution, including two innovative post–World War II studies that explained gene flow between white and black populations in the United States and genetic drift among the Dunkers, a group of German Baptist Brethren. The Dunkers study revealed that genetic drift was responsible for abrupt changes in the gene pool of their population.
Glass graduated with a BS degree from Baylor University in Texas. He attended the University of Texas, where he received his PhD under the mentorship of geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller. He spent the majority of his teaching career at The Johns Hopkins University. During his time at Hopkins, Glass also served as the president of the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and wrote frequent columns on current science topics for the Baltimore Evening Sun. As a member of the Baltimore Board of School Commissioners, he convinced Baltimore to be one of the first U.S. cities to abide by the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision. In 1965 Glass departed from Hopkins to serve as the first academic vice-president and professor of biological sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Glass also served as president of the American Society of Human Genetics and as chair of the Atomic Energy Commission's advisory committee for biology and medicine.
