Betty Glad (1928-2010)

Nicole Alliegro & Paul H. Elovitz, Ramapo College

Betty Glad (1928-2010), a distinguished political science professor at the University of South Carolina and longtime political psychologist, died at age 82 on August 2, 2010.  Her primary areas of research were American politics, foreign policy, and presidential psychology; her 1998 presentation to the Psychohistory Forum on Clinton’s impeachment was well received.

Professor Glad received numerous honors for scholarship, service, and teaching at such institutions as Mt. Holyoke College, Brooklyn College, University of Illinois at Urbana—Champaign, New York University, and, finally, the University of South Carolina, where she joined the faculty in 1989 and eventually became the Olin D. Johnston Professor of Political Science and Distinguished Professor Emerita.

Professionally, Glad was awarded the Frank J. Goodnow Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field of Political Science in 2000 and the Harold Lasswell Award of the International Society for Political Psychology (for which she served as president) in 1997 for a lifetime of outstanding contribution to political psychology.  Additionally, Glad was vice president of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and the president of APSA’s Presidency Research Group.  In addition to her service, Glad authored dozens of highly praised books, chapters, and articles.  Her most recent work, An Outsider in the White House: Jimmy Carter, His Advisors, and the Making of American Foreign Policy, was published by Cornell University Press in 2009, and Glad’s first book, Charles Evans Hughes, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Her accomplishments as a female scholar include being one of the first women to earn a doctoral degree in political science and spending most of her career at PhD-granting institutions.  Glad also served as the first woman chair of the University of Illinois’ Department of Political Science.

A native of Utah, liberal Mormon, and a democrat with a large and small “D,” Betty Glad earned her bachelor of science degree magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Utah, where she also received a distinguished alumna award in 2009.  She received her doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1962.  Glad loved music, ballroom dancing, and reading, and she was admired by colleagues and friends for her courage, strength, and tenacity.

To read more about Betty Glad’s life and achievements, read “Political Psychologist and Presidential Scholar: Betty Glad,” Clio’s Psyche (June 1999, Vol. 6 No. 1, 18-24).

Nicole Alliegro is a junior journalism student at Ramapo College.