In Memoriam: Glenn P. Glasgow

1944-2019

Adapted for HPS with permission of the family

Glenn P. Glasgow, MS, PhD, FAAPM, FACR, age 75, passed away on Monday, 28 October 2019, following a brief battle against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. As in life, he was surrounded by his family at the time of his death. His final messages included, "Be Forever the Student" and "Family Love Conquers All."

Glenn Patrick Glasgow was born in Columbia, Kentucky, and from his earliest childhood exhibited the zest for knowledge that would define his time with us as a life-long scholar.

Glenn earned a BS in physics and mathematics from Western Kentucky State College (now Western Kentucky University) in 1965, an MS from the University of Kentucky in 1969, and a PhD from the University of Kentucky in 1974 (Dissertation: The Gamma Radiation, Neutron Inelastic Scattering Cross Sections, and Nuclear Structure of ⁹²Zr and ⁹⁴Zr). He left Kentucky to pursue both an academic and medical career in radiation oncology and medical physics, first as a tenured professor of radiation physics at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. After moving to River Forest, Illinois, he enjoyed decades of professional success as a tenured professor of radiation oncology and as head of the Division of Medical Physics at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. During this time, he also worked in the Department of Radiotherapy for Loyola Hospital and the Hines VA Hospital, in Maywood, Illinois, and served as acting chairman for the department from 1994 to 1996. Among Glenn's proudest professional accomplishments, he was a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and a Fellow of the American Association of Physics in Medicine, the highest recognitions in his field.

During his 40+ years of experience in therapeutic radiological physics (1978 American Board of Radiology) and health physics (1982 American Board of Health Physics) Glenn contributed extensively to his discipline, serving on national committees, including as president of the Midwest Chapter of the American Association of Physics in Medicine, and authoring/coauthoring 188+ manuscripts, many of which were in his specialty areas of brachytherapy, radiation shielding, facility design, radiation safety, high dose rate remote afterloading, total body irradiation, medical radiation regulations, licensing, quality assurance, and program evaluations as well as in general radiological physics. Although his 29-page curriculum vitae is a testament to his numerous professional accomplishments, it is the many post-doctoral students and young colleagues that he trained and mentored whose careers and successes he followed with great pleasure, who will serve as his professional legacy.

In retirement Glenn returned home to Kentucky and found a new path. He established "Glenn P. Glasgow, PhD—Quality Consultations in Medical & Health Physics" a consulting business providing expert witness testimony. Once the entrepreneurial spirit took hold, it expanded to other areas—Glasgow Bank & Trust (a family lending enterprise) and Glasgow Enterprises, LLC (a property management company for his family farms in Kentucky). Even in retirement, however, he continued to be a source of advice and support for many of his former students and colleagues, who looked to him to help them implement his constant advice: "Always have a Plan B."

Beyond his professional life, Glenn's interests were varied—the definition of a renaissance man. He loved storytelling and humor, always holding court around the dinner table at family gatherings. He was an avid reader—interested in history, philosophy, religion, cosmology, finances, science, and mathematics (with a few thousand books in the libraries of his many homes). As a young man he learned to sail by reading and loved taking his Lindy Lou out on the Ohio River as a member of the Louisville Sailing Club (Lindy Lou being his beloved Sunfish boat, not his wife). He relished time spent on both intellectual and social endeavors in Louisville, as a member of the Humanist Group at the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, as an officer in the local chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors, and as part of a group of pool-playing buddies who knew him as "Eightball." He filled the house with his photography—pictures of family, friends, and items and places of interest to him—taught himself the Ubuntu Linux computer software program, studied German, listened to classical and country music . . . the list goes on and on.

Throughout it all, Glenn shared this path with his wife, a true partner whom he adored, Lyndia (Lindy) Glasgow. In recent years, Glenn and Lyndia enjoyed traveling to their home in California to visit with their daughter, Elizabeth, in whose accomplishments Glenn took even more pride than his own, and their (soon-to-be) son-in-law, Eric Burnheimer. In Louisville, Glenn took special joy in his role as "U.G." (short for Uncle Glenn) to Rosalind, Vivian, and Willa Thompson—teaching them to play chess, spending endless hours on games of Monopoly, and playing "school" (he was the student).

Whether he was Glenn, GPG, Dr. Glasgow, Professor, Dad, or U.G., he meant the world to each of us in his own way.

His immediate survivors include his beloved wife of 52 years, Lyndia Rouse Glasgow, Louisville, Kentucky; daughter, Elizabeth Rouse Glasgow (Eric Burnheimer), Los Angeles, California; special niece, Amanda Rouse Thompson (Doug) Louisville, Kentucky; sister, Susan Celeste Glasgow, Louisville, Kentucky; brother, Michael Glasgow (Lana), Columbia, Kentucky; aunt, Juanita Hesford, Columbia, Kentucky; and many other beloved nieces, nephews, family members, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Glenn Shirley Glasgow and Frances Tutt Glasgow.

Funeral services were held Saturday, 2 November 2019, at Grissom-Martin Funeral Home, Columbia, Kentucky, followed by interment in Columbia Cemetery. A memorial service was also held on Sunday, 10 November 2019, at Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.

While any tribute is appreciated, please consider a contribution to the Lindsey Wilson College Endowment/Glasgow Family Memorial Fund (Lindsey Wilson College, Attn: Donor Relations, 210 Lindsey Wilson Street, Columbia, KY 42728 or www.lindsey.edu/giving).