Robert L. Gluckstern

July 21,1924 –

December 17, 2008

Brief Professional Bio, Part 1

• CCNY, Electrical Engineering, 1944

• US Navy, 1944-46• PhD, Physics, MIT,

1948• Postdoc, Berkeley,

Cornell 1948 – 51• Professor, Yale,

1951-64

Brief Professional Bio, Part 2

• Head, Physics and Astronomy, UMass, 1964-69

• Associate Provost, 1969-70

• Provost, 1970-75• Chancellor, Maryland,

1975-82• Professor, 1982-1997

Accelerator Research

• Consultant – Brookhaven– Fermi Lab– CERN– Los Alamos

• Director, U Maryland Dynamic Systems and Accelerator Theory

• 1999 US Particle Accelerator Prize

• Last paper: CERN report, July 25, 2008

UMass 1964

There were 11 people in the department when Bob came.

Phillips Jones, UMass ’51

and Professor Emeritus

I was recruited from Yale by Moyer Hunsberger … the prospect of working with Hunsberger’s support to build a quality graduate program was too exciting to turn down….

RLG, January, 1997

UMass Physics

Arts and Sciences Dean Moyer Hunsberger

I met Bob Gluckstern at Yale in the fall of 1963. I and two other new postdocs in theoretical physics had started our own seminar series to share our research interests, and Bob joined us. It was immediately clear that he was a bright, friendly, and open person. If my memory is correct, he was the only senior faculty member to invite Helen and me to his and Norma’s home for dinner. When Bob went to UMass the following fall, he invited me to visit. I was very impressed with his vision and enthusiasm and ultimately became the first person he hired….

Mort Sternheim, Professor Emeritus; Director, STEM Education Institute

One reason that Bob was a great leader is that he was a superb listener. He had his own ideas, but he learned from what he heard from others. For example, he had considered having a small accelerator for nuclear physics research, but dropped that idea in favor of users groups at major centers, which was a good decision. He visited many physics departments, attended many conferences, etc., in formulating his model for the department and recruiting faculty….

When Bob was hired, he was promised lots of positions by the dean, Moyer Hunsberger. UMass was adding 100 new faculty annually – about one Amherst College! – so there were lots of positions around. When he arrived, he was a bit disappointed to hear Hunsberger say that he could have only 3 slots to start with, but more if all went well. By the end of the recruiting season, he had hired 7 people, increasing the department by about 50 percent. Overall, the department went from approximately from 11 to 45 faculty during his five years as head

Mort Sternheim

We decided to build an experimental research base in the form of user groups in elementary particle and nuclear physics and individual labs in solid state and atomic physics .. supplemented by a spectrum of theoretical research programs.

RLG, January, 1997

We focused our recruiting toward building a scanning and measuring facility for bubble chamber photos to support an experimental elementary particle physics program.

Steve Yamamoto, Janice Shafer, Bob Gluckstern

Bob was an extraordinary physicist, teacher, administrator – and musician. His enthusiasm and charm persuaded talented young theorists and experimentalists, many not expecting to change positions, to join him in the rapid build-up of the Department of Physics & Astronomy in the mid-sixties. As co-head of the high-energy physics group, I much appreciated Bob’s leadership and mentoring. He was ahead of his time in his support for women scientists in academia.

Janice Button-Shafer, Professor Emerita, UMass Physics, and Guest Scientist, LBNL

A Family Affair

Mort Sternheim, to BJ, age 10: Do you like Amherst?

BJ: Have you accepted the position?

Mort: Yes.

BJ: I don’t like it.

We ran a tight ship!

RLG, January 1997

When Bob Gluckstern arrived in Amherst in 1964, the challenge of building an expanding physics department in a newly built Hasbrouck Physics Building was exciting though at times a bit overwhelming. One of the overwhelming areas was in recruiting faculty. To help him in the recruiting process, we devised a family plan— dinner at “the Gluckstern’s.” This was a family project designed to assist him in recruiting potential faculty by offering dinner at the Gluckstern‘s, some of you who are sitting here today may have dined with us. I doubt if it was the deciding factor in your accepting to join the department but it was an opportunity for you to experience Bob not only as a physicist but as a thoughtful, kind and generous man…

Norma Gluckstern Packard

When Bob went on to be provost, he brought with him a broader understanding of the needs of the University beyond the physics department. The first of the two that I would like him to be remembered for are his support of the School of Education under Dwight Allen, during a most turbulent time. The School of Education is where Steven and I received our Ed.D. The other is the Women’s Center. It was Bob who provided the first space, a single room, for the women on campus to open a “women’s center,” a center that has grown over the years…

Finally let me thank you all for this special recognition of Bob as a brilliant physicist, a remarkable administrator and a good man and father.

“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also must dream, not only plan, but also believe.” Norma Gluckstern Packard, April, 2009.

1965

• Mort Sternheim• Roy Cook• Steve Yamamoto• Stan Hertzbach• Dick Kofler• Norm Ford• Claude Penchina

As a native of Springfield, Mass., I had a deep seated view of UMass as an agricultural college. It is a tribute to Bob's ability to share his vision with others that following a day's interview I had changed my opinion and decided to join the faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Norman Ford, Former Professor of Physics

“1965 Class Reunion”

June, 2005

1966

• Janice Shafer• Stan Engelsberg• Robert Krotkov• Ken Langley• Arthur Quinton• Bill Irvine• Ted Harrison• Tom Arny• Fred Byron

Bob was the original driving force behind the creation of a graduate astronomy program at UMass. To forward this plan, he assumed the chairmanship of the Five College Astronomy Department in 1965... He then recruited me to take over the Chair in 1966, recruited Tom Arny as a 2nd astronomer, and together we recruited Ted Harrison. He was thereafter a strong supporter of building up Astronomy, both as Department Chair and later as Provost.

William M. Irvine, Professor of Astronomy

Building the original FCRAO telescope with telephone poles and chicken wire

1967

• John Brehm• Gene Golowich• Art Swift• Bill Mullin• Mark Goldenberg• John Strong• Bill Plummer• Bill Cleland

Bob hired folks that were not only good researchers but were also congenial, which matched his own personality. I felt like he was like a kind father figure, but also a very good leader and a smart physicist.

William Mullin, Professor Emeritus

1968

• Gerry Peterson• Jim Walker• Alan Hoffman• Richard Huguenin• Bill Dent

UMass [had] an active atomic physics group - Ed Soltysik, Phil Jones, and Francis Pichanick (who also came from Yale). New Hasbrouck had just been finished; atomic physics was in old Hasbrouck. Bob was very supportive, though his primary emphasis at that time was on building up high energy physics. He was always going away to conferences to recruit people. One secret of his success was the open, accepting way he dealt with people.

Robert Krotkov, Professor Emeritus

1969

• Dieter Freytag• Francis Pichanick• Bill Gerace• Bob Guyer• David Inglis• Klaus Schultz• Joe Taylor

I recall from the early 60's once mentioning Bob to his MIT thesis advisor, John Slater. His comment tells it all: "Yes, he was a very bright boy!". No matter what the task, he always performed brilliantly. First and foremost, he was a great applied mathematician, especially in the area of electromagnetism and accelerators. But you ask him to be department head or provost or chancellor and again the results are outstanding.

Arthur R. Quinton, Professor Emeritus

Impact

• Our base prior to 1964 was 11 faculty, $30,000 federal support annually

• PhD program approved during 1964-65

RLG, Jan. 1997

Impact

• By 1969 there were about 45 faculty and $1,000,000 in federal funding RLG, January 1997

Bob Gluckstern was an extraordinary person. He joined UMass when I was a senior undergraduate physics major and immediately began to transform the department. Even undergraduates could feel his energy and enthusiasm… In 1970 I began to look for a faculty position. UMass told me that it was not hiring in my area. Bob met me … and asked how I was doing. I told him I was a postdoc and looking for a good faculty position.

He asked if I had considered UMass and I told him that I had, but no position was available. He said, with words I will never forget, “Ask them again.” I did, and I was hired – with no formal interview.

Bob Hallock, Professor of Physics

Life in Whitmore

Commencement 1970

Provost Oswald Tippo

Convocation 1970

Commencement 1972

President Robert Wood

W. Randolph Bromery

Distinguished Teacher Awards, 1973

Chancellor W. Randolph Bromery

Tree Planting Ceremony, 1973

Gravesite of President William S. Clark

Distinguished Teacher Awards 1974

Bob and Teaching

• Oversaw development of UMass physics and astronomy grad programs

• Oversaw revisions of physics major and service courses

• Dedicated to teaching– Taught sections while

Provost– Tutored at Maryland until

recently

Teaching at UMass

I asked him if I could see him for some help. He offered to meet me at 6:30 AM. He was there the next morning when I arrived at that hour, and he gave me the help I needed.

Chris Emery, retired Amherst Regional HS physics teacher

At Maryland

As chancellor, he sought to boost the university's academic quality by raising entrance standards and striving for salary equity for female faculty.

At Maryland, cont.

"He was just a good and gentle man who will be missed greatly," University President C.D. Mote Jr. said a statement, noting Dr. Gluckstern's efforts to create opportunities for minorities and to establish the Banneker Scholarship program, which provides merit awards. Baltimore Sun, December 22, 2008

At Maryland, cont.

Bob was an extraordinary physicist who had a pure and deep understanding of the material…. He really enjoyed having contact with the students. Indeed, while Chancellor, he was also a TA in Physics and Math… He was a superb teacher and human being to the end, and he fought a hard fight with cancer. We will miss him, his rich New Yawk accent, his good nature, his perspective, his brilliance, and his friendship.

Drew Baden, Physics Chair

Awards

• President’s Medal, University of Maryland, 1996, in recognition of his contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the university

• U.S. Particle Accelerator School Prize, 1999, for contributions to the understanding of fundamental processes in high-intensity beams

• UMass honorary PhD, 2005, for achievements in physics and academia

UMass Honorary PhD, May 2005

President Jack Wilson

Vice-Provost Paul Kostecki

Chancellor John Lombardi

Pat Crosson

Dad touched so many people through the years. Two in particular are our children, Jessie and Zach (Ages 24 and 19). Jessie is following in his footsteps in her love for teaching. Dad would have been proud. Zachary and Dad shared an unspoken connection. Whether it was sports, Monopoly, lessons taught – their chemistry was undeniable. He was deeply loved and will be missed by all of us.

Amie Gluckstern Yabroff, April 2009

Family and Friends

With the grandchildren

Amie

Zachary

Jessie

Bob

Seymour ShapiroCharles Adams

Pat Crosson Silver Lake NH, July 2006

Bob and Ann Woodbury Dave Bischoff

Liz Nuss

Maine, October 2008

A Memorial ReceptionApril 17, 2009

Bob Hallock, Professor of Physics

Arthur Quinton, Professor of Physics Emeritus

Bob before UMass

Phillips Jones, Professor of Physics Emeritus

UMass before Bob

Mort Sternheim, Professor of Physics Emeritus; Director, STEM Education Institute

Bob and UMass Physics

William Irvine, Professor of Astronomy

Bob and UMass Astronomy

Jeremiah Allen, HFA Dean Emeritus

Bob in Whitmore

Pat Crosson, Provost Emeritus

Bob in Whitmore and Maryland

Open MicrophoneLee Grodzins, Professor Emeritus of Physics, MIT

Brian O’Connor, Professor of Biology

Stan Hertzbach, Professor of Physics

David Scott, Chancellor Emeritus

Remembering BobLiz Nuss

Steven Gluckstern

Liz Nuss

Pat Crosson

Patricia Mulvey

Judy Gluckstern

Bill Irvine

Susan Leschine

Jay Greenspan

Norma HallockBob Hallock

BJ Greenspan

Steven Gluckstern

Don Candela

Helen Sternheim

Laurie Benalt

Phillips Jones

Ereda Jones

Arthur Quinton

Nancy Gluek

Principal Sources• Photos

– U Maryland web sites

– UMass Library Archives

– Mort Sternheim

– The Gluckstern family

• Quotes– UMass physics web

site

– U Maryland web sites

– “History of Physics at UMass”

PowerPoint by Mort Sternheim