IN MEMORIAM: Alexander J. Glass, 86;
Top Executive At Scientific Companies
MILFORD – Alexander J. Glass, Ph.D., 86, a Milford native and physicist who served as a top executive at several science-focused companies, passed away peacefully on Oct. 18, 2019, at his home in Alameda, Calif., where he lived.
He grew up in Otsego County and graduated from Milford High School in 1950. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 1954. He then attended Yale University, where he received a master’s and doctorate in physics.
He also served as a captain at the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Alex held numerous leadership roles, such as the chairmanship of the electrical engineering department at Wayne State University in Detroit, and many director-level positions at Lawrence Livermore Lab in California.
In 1981, Alex began his six-year tenure as chief executive officer of KMS Fusion in Ann Arbor, Mich. He returned to California in 1987, and led the Bay Area Regional Technical Alliance. Prior to his retirement, he was chief operating officer at KineMed Inc., a biomedical diagnostics firm.
Alex had an encyclopedic knowledge of theater, baseball, history, literature and other topics.
Alex and his first wife, the former Joanna McClelland, had three children, Jennifer Glass (Harlan), Mavis Prall Cohen (Joel) and Lawrence Glass (Mary League).
He married his wife, Judith Anderson Glass, in 1977 and became stepfather to her daughters, Emily Allbritten (George) and Mary Adam Thomas (Kevin). Together, Alex and Judith have nine grandchildren.
He and Judith traveled extensively. They lived in London in the early 2000’s while Alex served as a civilian employee for the U.S. Air Force in the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development.
Alex was predeceased by his parents, Lawrence and Anna Glass; his sister, Pauline Bodden; and his daughter, Jennifer.
He is survived by his wife; four of his children; his grandchildren; his sister, Naomi Glass of Washington, D.C.; cousin, Miriam Vedder of Laurens; and several nieces and nephews.
Donations to honor Alex’s memory may be made to the Lawrence and Anna Glass Memorial Scholarship, Hartwick College, P.O. Box 4022, Oneonta, NY 13820, or by going online at www.hartwick.edu/giving/scholarships-and-funded-awards/.