Bryan P. Glass

The son of Baptist missionaries Wiley B. Glass and Jessie Pettigrew Glass, Bryan Glass was raised in China. He had three sisters and a brother.[1] Lois and Eloise became missionaries; Eloise was also author.[2] Trudy joined the staff of the United Nations.[3] Bentley became a noted geneticist and educator.

Glass was a graduate of the China Inland Mission School in Chefoo. He continued his education in the United States, earning his Bachelor's from Baylor University in 1940, his Master's from Texas A&M in 1946, and his Ph.D from Oklahoma A&M in 1952.[4]

Mexican free-tailed bat (USFWS/Ann Froschauer)

During World War II, Glass served as a captain in the Army Air Corps and as an intelligence officer in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).[5]

Glass joined the Oklahoma State University (OSU) faculty as a zoology professor in 1946 and taught at the university until his retirement in 1985.[6] Glass received OSU's Outstanding Service and Outstanding Teacher Award (1965 and 1966, respectively). In 1966, Glass became Director of the University Museum.[7] He was committed to developing the museum's collection. During the 1960s, Glass and Robert Ingersoll collected 1,200 mammalian specimens from Ethiopia's Harar region. Their contribution represents over 10% of OSU's collection of mammals.[8]

Though he did some work in Ethiopia and Brazil, Glass's scientific interests were largely focused upon species in Oklahoma, particularly Microchiroptera.[9] His research program involving Oklahoma, Seminole, and Mexican free-tailed bats was the subject of an Army training video.[10]

Glass served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) from 1957-1977, a period during which membership more than doubled.[11]

In 1946, Glass married Carolyn Smith, who at various points worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, OSU, and ASM. They had two daughters, Janis Elizabeth and Peggy Lee.[12] Glass was active in his church, served on the organizing board for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma, and was elected Second Vice President of the Oklahoma Baptist Convention.[13]