Bryan Pettigrew Glass (August 21, 1919 – August 27, 2010) was an American mammalogist.

Early life and education

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. Lois and Eloise became missionaries; Eloise was also author. Trudy joined the staff of the United Nations.

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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 Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

in 1952.

Career

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 The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS). Glass joined the Oklahoma State University (OSU) faculty as a zoology professor in 1946 and taught at the university until his retirement in 1985. Glass received OSU's Outstanding Service and Outstanding Teacher Award (1965 and 1966, respectively). In 1966, Glass became Director of the University Museum. 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. Though he did some work in Ethiopia and Brazil, Glass's scientific interests were largely focused upon species in Oklahoma, particularly Microchiroptera. His research program—involving Oklahoma, Seminole, and

Mexican free-tailed bats The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has been ...

—was the subject of an Army training video. Glass served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

(ASM) from 1957 to 1977, a period during which membership more than doubled.

Personal life

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. 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.Obituary for Bryan Glass.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Bryan P. 1919 births 2010 deaths American mammalogists Oklahoma State University faculty Baylor University alumni Texas A&M University alumni Oklahoma State University alumni American Society of Mammalogists