The Glenn Legacy

                
Robert K. Glenn                                         Edgar Glenn

Following Footsteps: 
A Family Legacy of Leadership at Athens State University

            Although Athens State University is now a contrast to Athens Female College, the predecessor institution that occupied its bucolic campus over 100 years ago, it will soon have a similarity in the last name and kinship of its leaders.
            During the dawning years of the 20th century, Edgar M. Glenn served as the 23rd president of the then private college for women.  During these dawning years of the 21st century, his great grandson, Robert K. Glenn, will assume the position of the 36th president of the co-ed, two-year upper division institution beginning Monday. 
            Chancellor Bradley Byrne of the Alabama Community College System, which governs the Athens facility, states, "After an exhaustive national search, Dr. Glenn was identified as the perfect fit for Athens State.  His background and proven leadership impressed the search committee and has impressed all that have met him since he was named president-elect."  Byrne added, "The fact that the Glenn legacy will once again lead the campus illustrates just how, especially in academia, history does in fact repeat itself."
            The Glenn family of Alabama has a long and successful history of academic leadership at Auburn, Huntingdon, Birmingham-Southern, and Athens State.  The family's patriarch and grandfather of Edgar Glenn, Reverend James Elizabeth Glenn, came to Alabama as a Methodist Missionary around 1833 and founded Glennville, Alabama.  Glennville, in Russell County south of Phenix City, was envisioned as a cultural, educational, and religious center and was to be the "Athens of the South." 
A nephew, John Bowles Glenn, joined Rev. Glenn in Glennville to establish a male academy.  In 1854, John Bowles Glenn moved the academy to Auburn, Alabama, establishing the East Alabama Male College.  In 1871 control of the college was ceded to the state of Alabama and became what is now known as Auburn University.
Parts of Glennville were destroyed during the civil war and although a community of Glenville [sic] still occupies the same area, the township with its noble purposes was not rebuilt during reconstruction. 

"Small Steps":  The First Glenn Arrives on Campus
            According to Elva Bell McLin's book, Athens State College History: 1821 to 1994, Edgar Massillon Glenn joined the faculty of Athens Female College in 1901 as a professor of English and a year later was inaugurated as the institution's president. 
Prior to coming to Athens, Glenn had attended Southern University, but had not attained a degree when he went into the Methodist ministry as a “circuit rider.”  Years later he was a part of the committee that formed The North Alabama Conference College for Men, the predecessor of Birmingham-Southern College.  He first served the college as a professor of English.  In 1898, the first president of the College, Rev. Z. A. Parker, became ill and left office and Glenn was then appointment as President.  While serving as president, Glenn finished the requirements for his degree and had the unique opportunity to sign his own diploma.
           The Methodist North Alabama Convention minutes described Glenn as, "A brilliant mind, enriched by unremitting study, and favored by a genuine sense of humor."  In early 1902, Trustee William Thomas Sanders announced Glenn as president of Athens Female College describing him as, "40 years old, a man of ability, a scholar, and a student." 
           At this time, Athens Female College was a Methodist owned facility with a mission to support, in Glenn's own words, "…the grand work of educating future wives and mothers."   Enrollment was generally under 50 students, and the faculty numbered less than 15.   The campus consisted of a single building, Founders Hall, the imposing college edifice built in 1842 that still serves as the touchstone of the university today. 

"Giant Leaps":  A Second Glenn is Welcomed
            Dr. Robert K. Glenn will begin his tenure at Athens State on August 4 after a successful career at Middle Tennessee State University serving as its vice president and vice provost.
            Glenn earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Birmingham-Southern, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who all attended the school.  He received the doctorate in philosophy in Counselor Education and the Master’s of Science in student personnel work from The University of Alabama.  His current academic background consists of nine years of experience as a vice president, seven years as vice provost, and previous experience at faculty and dean levels of administration. 
           “I am both honored and excited to have this opportunity to come back to Alabama and to serve at Athens State University,” stated Glenn.  “I have great respect for the institution and I firmly believe that its best days are ahead of us. The faculty and staff are a dedicated community of professionals and it will be a pleasure to have a chance to work with them.”
           The 21st century campus the current President Glenn will inherit is a progressive institution governed by the State of Alabama Community College System.  With an enrollment of almost 3,000 students and a campus of close to 20 buildings, the university has secured a reputation as the state's baccalaureate granting institution within the community college structure.    Athens State offers 33 different degrees taught by a faculty numbering over 200. 
           Although the name and mission of the two institutions, separated by over a hundred years, has become completely metamorphic, it does seem that in the field of education many things are cyclical. 
Interestingly, Athens State Professor of English, Dr. Bebe Gish Shaw is the great granddaughter of William Thomas Sanders, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees who governed with the elder Glenn in the early 1900s. 
           Shaw muses, “They say educators are born and not made, and the fact that Dr. Glenn and I are fourth generation Athens State family rather illustrates that truism.  I certainly look forward to working with him continuing a tradition of excellence while following in our great grandfathers’ footsteps.”

Left to Right: (Bob Glenn, Laura Glenn, Carl Glenn, Katie Glenn)
Not Pictured: Lisa Glenn