A World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Leslie L. Glasgow earned a B.S. in forestry at Purdue University, an M.S. in wildlife at the University of Maine, and a Ph.D. in wildlife at Texas A. & M. He joined the LSU faculty in 1948, specializing in marsh wildlife.   Promoted to professor in 1964, he helped to establish the Cooperative Wildlife and Fisheries units at LSU and the new M.S. in fisheries. Major professor for 44 graduate students, he served on 150 graduate student committees. He was a member of four honorary societies and seven professional organizations and Assistant Director of the Forestry-Wildlife-Fisheries School 1971-1980.

Glasgow’s conservation service was extensive. On leave from LSU he was Director of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission 1966-69, and Assistant Secretary, Interior Department, 1969-70. In these two positions he enhanced the cause of wise natural resource management. In Louisiana he was responsible for a wave of hope that management of natural resources would be elevated above partisan politics. He received many conservation awards and was active in community service. He served on 20 commissions and advisory boards. Glasgow retired from LSU in 1980 and died soon thereafter.

IN: LSU RNR Hall Fame Glasgow 2.doc 32 KB
Information about Leslie Lloyd Glasgow, 1914-1980, contained in his file folder in the File Storage Room, LSU Renewable Natural Resources Bldg., 2nd floor. June 13, 2008. By: Paul Y. Burns, Prof. Emeritus, RNR

B. Portland, Indiana March 29, 1914, one of 7 children of James & Margaret Glasgow. Married Garnet Confer in1942 & they had 3 sons, Vaughn L., Hugh R., and Robert B. (I knew them). Leslie retired from LSU on June 30,1980, a retirement celebration July 16, then he died on Aug. 3, age 66, while he was in San Jose, California visiting relatives & attending a brd of directors meeting of Williams, Inc. (he had been chosen as Vice-Pres. ), a large landowner in southern La.

Leslie received the B.S. in 1943 at Purdue Univ. He served in the Army Air Corps, returned to Purdue and in 1948earned the M.S. degree in wildlife conservation, Univ. of Maine. After graduation at Purdue, he worked as awaterfowl biologist for the state of Indiana. He joined the LSU faculty as Asst. Prof. in 1948, specialty wildlife in marshes. After a few years, Leslie took educational leave for 2 semesters and completed his residence requirementsfor the Ph.D. in wildlife at Texas A & M, then got approval to use his Agricultural Experiment Station research at LSU on woodcock for his dissertation. He was awarded the Ph.D. in 1958. He became known for his research onthe ecology of marshes. He served as a professor at the LSU School of Forestry & Wildlife Management for 32years.

He was promoted to Assoc. Prof. in 1959 and to Prof. in 1964. Within the School of Forestry & Wildlife he became Assistant Director for Wildlife & Fisheries in 1971, serving in this capacity until his retirement in 1980.He took leave w/o pay to serve as Director of the La. Wildlife & Fisheries Commission for 2.5 years, Aug. 16, 1966-Jan. 1, 1969. He again took leave w/o pay to serve the U.S. Department of the Interior as Assistant Secretary forFish, Wildlife, Parks, and Marine Resources Ap. 1, 1969 – November 30, 1970. In this position and in his Wildlife & Fisheries Commission position he enhanced the cause of wise natural resource management, incl. land acquisitionfor State and Federal Wildlife Refuges, State Wildlife Management Areas, and National Recreation Areas;protection and management of endangered species; and environmental pollution control.  Glasgow served on approximately 20 commissions and advisory boards, including the La. Stream Pollution Control Commission, La. Forestry Commission, La. Tourist Commission, Goals for Louisiana, Gulf States Fisheries Commission m Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission, U.S.-Japanese Natural Resources Conference, PuertoRican Recreation Trust, and USDA Waterbanks Advisory Board.In community service Glasgow participated in various activities, incl service on the Brd of Dir, B.R. Sportsman’sLeave; counselor for Boy Scout Wildlife Merit Badge, committeeman for Cub Packs, and assisting in formation ofan Explorer Post for high school students interest in wildlife mgmnt as a career, University Lake Improvement Committee, Baton R.As a faculty member at LSU he was major prof for 43 Master’s students and one Ph.D. He served on 150 master’s& 9 doctoral committees. He taught eight different wildlife courses, and authored 32 scientific papers.Dr. Glasgow was responsible for establishing the Coop. Wildlife and Coop. Fisheries Units at LSU.

He was instrumental in initiating a fisheries program at the school. He was also responsible for the employment of the first non-game wildlife faculty member at the school. Glasgow served as faculty adviser to the student Forestry Club, the student Wildlife Club, and the Forestry & Wildlife student annual publication.  Glasgow was a member of 4 professional honorary societies and 7 professional organizations.  Dr. Glasgow received many awards for the fish & wildlife work, including  Outstanding State Conservationist, chosen by the La. Outdoor Writers, in 1958,Governor’s Award from the La. Wildlife Federation, 1968.Welfare of Alligators Award, American Alligator Council, 1970.  Seth Gordon Award from the International Association of Game, Fish and Conservation Commissioners, asa person making an outstanding contribution to wildlife management in North America. .H.M. “Hub” Cotton Faculty Excellence Award from the LSU FoundationBy Avault 2/13/79.  In addition to above, he has been driving force behind the fisheries program.Instrumental in assisting fisheries faculty obtain grants, and a research contract from the federal govt tostudy water quality and fisheries resources of the Atchafalaya River Basin—served on numerous fishery-related committees. Commissions, and advisory boards.

While with the Dept. of Interior, he was involved with many environmental problems. He was particularly effective in educating large land-holding companies about the need for conservation. Perhaps his major accomplishment was his ability to encourage, to educate, to cajole, and to actively participate in getting individuals, agencies, companies, and even countries involved in sound wildlife and fisheriesmanagement. He was highly regarded throughout La. by outdoor enthusiasts—hunters, fishermen, trappers, birdwatchers, hikers, and campers.As Director of La’s fish & wildlife agency he was directly responsible for a tidal wave of hope & confidence that mgmnt of these important natural resources would be elevated above partisan politics. He brought great honor to LSU and to his profession.]

HUMAN INTEREST NOTES ABOUT L.L. GLASGOW, BY PAUL Y. BURNS

Although he was six years older than I, and I was his “boss,” Glasgow always cooperated with me. In my first 3 months at LSU, he seemed to want to “orient” me, without being pushy about it. He asked me to go with him to a public hearing scheduled by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, in Opelousas. I went. For me, coming to LSU from Missouri, it was nothing new: the Corps was just going through the motions of letting the people vent their objections; the Corps was going to ignore the desires of the general public.

After about 8 months, Glasgow & Bateman took me with them to look at forestry & wildlife research in the Toledo Bend area, Hodges Gardens, a privately owned area near Hornbeck.

Glasgow was generous. He had Quaker leanings, and I never saw him angry or upset. In the summer of 1970, my wife & I went on vacation to Big Bend National Park, in the desert southeast of El Paso, TX. I told my secretary & a few others our schedule, so Glasgow probably found about it. When we had just arrived & were getting ready to go to supper the first evening, a man knocked on our cabin door. It was the park superintendent,whom I didn’t know. But he knew I was Director of the LSU Sch. of Forestry & Wildlife Mgt. We accepted his invitation to supper, an outdoor barbeque, with him & his wife, the next night at his home in the mountain. Very nice! I didn’t ask how he happened to invite me, and I never said anything to Glasgow about it.

Glasgow, a modest person, had a reputation for integrity. When in 1966 the Director of the La. Wildlife & Fisheries Commission was reported in the news media to have misbehaved, John McKeithen was Governor. He fired Clark Hoffpauir & phoned John Hunter, LSU President, asking did he have anybody on the LSU faculty who could take over as Director. Hunter phoned Norman Efferson, Dean, Col. of Agric., & Efferson recommended Glasgow. Two years later, I guess the Governor didn’t need honesty any more, so he told Leslie to go back to LSU.  The Governor’s news release indicated that LSU had called Glasgow back, but much as I wanted him back as afaculty member, I did not call him back.

A few months later, Glasgow got a call from Rep. Dave Treen, an honest Congressional Republican. Treen recommended Glasgow to Walter Hinkel, the honest Sec. of the Interior under Pres. Nixon. Hinkel hired Glasgow asone of his Asst. Directors. Glasgow did a good job; however, he was axed during the Thanksgiving 1970“massacre.” Hinkel & all his assistants were fired. Glasgow phoned me at home the Wed. night before Thanksgiving & said he had been told he was fired. He said that when he began work he had to sign and give the President’s office an undated resignation letter. I asked how much notice he was given. Leslie responded: “They came to my office at 3 p.m. Wed. & told me to clear out my things by 5 p.m. I told them I would consider resigning.”I asked what he was going to do. Les said he would resign, effective the end of Friday after Thanksgiving. I asked,“When do you want to come back to LSU?” He said Jan. 2. He stayed on the federal payroll as a consultant on Gulf Coast problems through Feb. 28, 1971. He said Nixon’s man told him, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” I think Glasgow knew his leaving & returning was causing me problem as head of the Schools, so he arranged for are placement each time he left, an employee of the Wildlife & Fisheries Commission who had a master’s degree in wildlife and who was willing to take leave from the Commission to teach at LSU.

Glasgow had a reputation among the staff of the School of having an exceedingly messy desk, with piles of papers covering his desk and the chairs in his office, except for the chair he sat in. When he was absent and one ofus wanted to leave him a written message, there was no place to leave it where it would be conspicuous and catch his eye when he came back to his office. One Monday morning when I was Director I came to work & noticed there was evidence that burglars had come in, mainly looking for the “coffee money,” I suppose. My office, 3 doors toward the end of the Forestry Bldg., had been hit, likewise Dr. Hopkins’ office next to mine. Glasgow’s office was untouched; we faculty members joked that the reason was, the burglars saw what a mess it was in and concluded that his office had already been burgled!

When I was Director Glasgow agreed to give a lecture to the Agric. 1001 class of 90 students on forestry,wildlife, & fisheries. As the time approached for his lecture, in a classroom 400 yards away, I thought I should remind him of his responsibility. I found him in our building’s woodshop, making wood duck boxes; he had forgotten his lecture. He immediately headed for the classroom across campus, in his working clothes. When he returned to our building, I asked him how he got along. He said, with the tiniest bit of a smile, “Oh, all right I guess.  They gave me a standing ovation.”