Henry Russell Glyde (b. October 31, 1937) died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on March 15, 2024, from heart failure. A cosmopolite, his many and varied interests and accomplishments took him around the world, where he made lifelong friendships and contributions to his field of condensed matter physics.
Henry was born and grew up with his older sister Helen and younger brother Gerald, in Alberta, Canada. His parents, Henry George (H.G.) and Hilda emigrated from England. After H.G. completed a one-year art teaching fellowship in 1936 they decided to stay in western Canada where H.G. became a prominent landscape painter, teacher, and leader in shaping art in Canada.
A Rhodes Scholar, Henry earned a doctorate in physics at Wadham College, Oxford, and went on to be a professor at the University of Ottawa, University of Alberta, and University of Delaware where he was Chair of Physics from 1982 to 1989. He was a visiting professor, guest scientist and collaborator at institutions as varied as Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok Thailand, Brookhaven National Lab, National Research Council of Canada, and the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France.
His many professional honors and awards included the 2001 Wheatley Award from the American Physical Society. Among his most cherished roles was mentoring post-doctoral physics students from Thailand. Henry pursued his passion for physics his entire life, continuing to the end to review and edit articles for Physical Review Letters.
Henry's love of France, which he shared with his late wife Eva Daicar shaped his later decades. There, he enjoyed “doing physics" when not skiing or hiking in the Alps and enjoying fine food and wine with friends and colleagues at his apartment at Chateau d'Allieres near Grenoble.
A champion distance runner, Henry set the Masters (age 40-44) Canadian Indoor Record for the 1500 meters in 1982, won the Masters (age 45-49) mile and two-mile races at the U.S National Road Race in 1984, and competed for Canada at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago.
Henry was a modest man. He rarely spoke of his many accomplishments and recognitions. His sons learned of them mostly from others. He was a devoted and generous father who wanted them to pursue careers and interests that brought them joy. His one caveat: whatever that is, “do it well."
Even casual acquaintances remember Henry as a true gentleman for his kindness, grace, and good humor. An engaged listener as well as skilled conversationalist, Henry could talk in an informed way about topics ranging from international relations and finance to climate change and the arts. Apart from nieces and nephews, Henry is survived by his brother Gerald; his wife's sister Zdena, his partner Susan Goodman and the sons of his first marriage, Mark (wife, Allie) and Stephen.
