Otto Charles Glaser (October 13, 1880 – 1951) was an American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Biography

He was born in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His parents were of French and German descent, and he came with them to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

while very young. He got his early education in private schools in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and then spent two years in Baltimore City College (1894-1896). In 1900 he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. He stayed there to do graduate work, and in 1904 received the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

His doctoral thesis was "The Larva of ''

Fasciolaria tulipa ''Fasciolaria tulipa'', common name the true tulip, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fasciolariidae. Distribution This species occurs from the North Carolina coast all the way south and west to the Gul ...

'' (var. ''distans'')". In 1901–1902 he was assistant in the

United States Bureau of Fisheries United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

and in the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Geological Survey. In 1903 he was marine biologist of the Gulf Biological Station and from 1905 to 1907 taught biology at

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 ...

, during the summers. In 1905, he began teaching zoology at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, becoming in 1908 assistant professor of biology. In 1916 he moved to Amherst College, where he served as Professor of Biology until 1948. Glaser had two children with his first wife Dorothy Gibbs Merrylees whom he married in 1909 and divorced in 1933. He remarried but his second wife died of cancer in 1940. In 1941 he married the biomathematician

Dorothy Wrinch Dorothy Maud Wrinch (12 September 1894 – 11 February 1976; married names Nicholson, Glaser) was a mathematician and biochemical theorist best known for her attempt to deduce protein structure using mathematical principles. She was a champion o ...

. In 1944 Glaser was forced to resign as chairman because he had allowed his research assistant, who was supported with Rockefeller Foundation money, to spend time working for Wrinch. Glaser was not allowed any more research funding and retired in 1948. He died of kidney disease and diabetes in 1951.

Publications

Über den kannibalismus bei Fasciolaria tulipa (var. distans) und deren larvale excretionsorgane
1904. Johns Hopkins PhD thesis.
Collected reprints
1924

Note

External links

*
Digitised works of Otto Glaser
at Biodiversity Heritage Library. 1880 births 1951 deaths Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Michigan faculty 20th-century American zoologists German emigrants to the United States People from Wiesbaden {{US-biologist-stub