Alan Harold Gleason ’39

Alan died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease Jan. 20, 2010, at the Kingston Residence of Sylvania, Ohio.

Alan was an economist who first taught at the University of Rochester and then for a dozen years at the International Christian University in Tokyo. After a brief stint at the University of Pittsburgh he became chairman of the economics department at the University of Toledo, where he remained until his retirement.
He grew up in Rochester, N.Y., where his father was private organist for George Eastman. Alan didn’t play the organ, but was a pianist, choir singer, and composer. He sang bass in the Sylvania United Church of Christ — just as he had sung in the choir and Glee Club at Princeton — and was a composer of sacred music.

He was a dedicated teacher. Faculty and former students remember him as deeply concerned with their needs and interests and always available to his students. He and his wife, Emily, whom he married in 1950, gave special attention to students from other countries, helping them understand American culture and often inviting them to their campus home.
Alan is survived by Emily; sons Alan and James; a daughter, Ann; his brothers, David and Peter; and two granddaughters. We extend to them our sincere sympathies.