611 Alan H. and Emily G. Gleaso
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Alan Harold Gleason (1917-2010; B.A., Princeton University; M.A., University of Rochester; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Emily Gilbert Gleason (B.A., University of Rochester; M.A., Columbia University; M.A., University of Toledo) served ICU from 1956 to 1969. During their tenure, Alan was Professor of Economics and served as Chair of the Social Science Division for consecutive terms through his tenure, except for two separate years when he was on sabbatical leave. Most notably, Alan helped build a strong social science faculty, balanced in age distribution, during the University's infancy, and his commitment to teaching promoted a campus culture most conducive to a liberal arts education. Alan cogently expressed his educational philosophy in support of ICU's commitment to personalized education through his remark, when the faculty was engaged in frequent debates over the optimum student size at ICU, that it was not the faculty-student ratio that should determine the desirable student population size at ICU, but the percentage of students a professor recognized by their names. Emily, while fully engaged at home in nurturing the young family, occasionally taught as Lecturer in Sociology and assisted in the teaching of English language.The Gleasons enriched the campus life through their love of music and their communal sharing of that enthusiasm. Alan, who came from a musical family, was a pianist, choral singer, and composer. He was advisor to the Modern Music Society, a student jazz club at ICU, and his taste and talent in music was highly diverse, from sacred to “boogie-woogie.”
The Gleasons' commitment to ICU's living-and-learning community was total. Alan served as Chair of the ICU Church Council in the late 1950s when the Church was experiencing a critical period of pastoral changes. Among other things, Emily served as Chair of the Church Fellowship Committee. Their house on the campus was open to a variety of student gatherings. One of those students, who later assisted in Alan's teaching, became one of the first graduates to occupy the position of a full professorship at ICU.
In daily life, the Gleasons demonstrated their appreciation for cultural relativism, which was grounded in their Christian faith. Therein lies the strength of their contribution to ICU's education, whose mission was to foster the future leaders of a free world in the spirit of reconciliation and peace.
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