Paul Glasser
Ph.D. ’61
My Carolina Ph.D., I believe, was at least partially responsible for launching me into what I think was a successful academic career. I entered Carolina in 1956 with a Masters degree in social work from Columbia University and after three years army service, and two years as Assistant Director of Residence at a treatment home for children. I am particularly indebted to Professors Reuben Hill and Harvey Smith, who were my faculty advisors and provided me with scholarship aid which, together with the GI Bill, enabled my new wife and me to live comfortably, and to Professor Gordon Blackwell, who arranged for me to get credit for my Masters degree so that my time at UNC was shortened. I loved my days at Carolina since every faculty member stimulated me, and I was an enthusiastic basketball and football fan.
I left Carolina with the data for my dissertation but not the final report for a position at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. A year later I completed the thesis. At the time there were very few academic Ph.D’s in social work, and for that reason, and multiple publications in sociology and social work, and an adept ability to write grants, I was promoted to full professor after only six years. For example, one year I wrote six training grants for the School and one research grant and was funded for all seven. I also held administrative positions as head of the social group work program with 200 students and twelve faculty and one year director of that program and the casework program with two-thirds of the student body of 600 and faculty reporting to me.
Although for the most part I was very happy at the University of Michigan, for personal reasons I left after twenty years to take a position as Dean at the University of Texas at Arlington. During the ten years there I quadrupled the enrollment, tripled the size of the faculty, almost doubled the size of the physical facilities with a special $1.5 million grant from the legislature, and had approved a much more appropriate doctoral program for the School. Of special importance to the University, I helped meet the court-ordered goals of minority faculty and students. At the same time the publication record of the faculty ranked third nationally based on the number of articles per full-time faculty member.
A very generous offer from Rutgers University led me to New Brunswick where I became Dean and Professor II (Distinguished Professor). At the time it was the largest school of social work in the country. with more than 1000 full-time students and 3000 part-time and continuing education students. I was brought in to rapidly increase the publication rate of the faculty, which I did. A new university president who insisted on replacing all administrators led me to resign after five years. I continued as a Professor II for the next fifteen years, helping to bring in grant money to the School and continuing to publish. Ten years ago I retired.
Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to travel extensively. I have had three Fulbright stipends – to the Philippines, to Australia and to Italy. In addition I have been a Visiting Professor to three Schools of Social Work in Israel, Hong Kong University, and a college in England. I have also been a consultant to colleges in China and Japan.
I have had extensive publications – author or co-author or editor or co-editor of thirteen books, a number of which have been translated into Italian, Russian and Japanese as well as about 100 journal articles and book chapters. It has been a very satisfying career which was launched by my experience at Carolina.
I retired to Israel where I lived for some years but returned to the U.S. five years ago when my wife, who was also an academic, died, and I now live in an independent living facility in New York City close to my son’s residence and only about two miles from where I was born and raised.
submitted March 2018