It’s little wonder that Adrienne Glore spent most of her life in academia. She began practicing as a child.
“When everyone else was playing, she was reading,” said her sister Lynne Lyman. “She read anything that was in the form of a book.”
Her studiousness eventually propelled her to the position of associate dean of students at Washington University. During a tenure that spanned more than three decades, Ms. Glore helped the school grow and evolve into its current world-class status.
Her career spanned various capacities and departments within the Division of Student Affairs, later known as Campus Life. She worked on a host of university projects, as well as served in a supervisory capacity for such departments as Student Educational Services and Disabled Student Services.
She conceived and developed a publication for and about African-American students called DIMENSION Black Students at Washington University, which served as a comprehensive overview and resource to assist with acclimation to campus life.
In the early years, she felt there was “something missing” from the students’ experience. That “something,” she decided, was a commitment to more than personal success.
She introduced students to causes greater than themselves through programs like the Washington University Leadership Seminar program, which she helped develop, where Washington University students mentored in local high schools.
“They have embraced community service within and beyond campus,” she once said modestly, but proudly, of the successful program.
Ms. Glore took students to the community and brought the community to the school through diverse events like Cultural Celebration Week. In 2009, she received Washington University’s Rosa L. Parks Award for her own dedicated service to the community.
Ms. Glore died Wednesday, November 22, 2017, of complications related to vascular dementia at Sunrise on Clayton in Richmond Heights, Mo. She was 75.
Services will be Sunday, December 3, at Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus.
Building Diversity
In 1987, Ms. Glore’s recruitment and retention efforts added another dimension when she took on leadership duties with the newly established John B. Ervin Scholars Program. The academic scholarship was established in honor of John B. Ervin, a renowned educator and scholar who was the first African-American dean at Washington University.
Ms. Glore was instrumental in helping to ensure the scholars had the “Ervin Experience,” in which they were nurtured intellectually, personally, socially, and culturally during their time at the university.
She helped guide the Ervin program through a delicate and controversial transition. The scholarship was originally reserved for African-Americans. In 2005, the program was opened to all students who demonstrate academic excellence and a commitment to diversity, leadership and service.
With her usual equanimity, Ms. Glore said there was more than one way to achieve diversity.
“The responsibility rests with us all,” she told the school paper at the time, noting that Washington University is a campus that “can and does discuss difficult issues.”
Despite a decidedly middle-class upbringing, like all blacks born and raised during the Jim Crow era, Ms. Glore was familiar with difficult circumstances. It did not dampen her spirits.
“She was kinder because of things our family experienced,” her sister Janet shared. “It taught her to be more open and loving to people.”
Ms. Glore remained involved in the Ervin program even after her retirement in 2008.
Cultural Warrior
“My mother had a universal acceptance for humanity,” said Gabrielle Glore, Ms. Glore’s daughter.
She was also intent upon improving it. Ms. Glore happily carried on the family tradition of “force feeding” culture, creating life “experiences.” Her first protégés were her younger sister Lynne and Lynne’s friends. Her daughter Gabrielle was next.
“I went kicking and screaming to the Art Museum,” Gabrielle laughed, “but now my appreciation of the arts manifests itself in my work and board service.”
Ms. Glore willingly consumed all the culture she could and shared it generously.
Her turn in the bridge club rotation was eagerly anticipated because of her exceptional cooking. But she didn’t need company to prepare an exotic meal. She was as likely to prepare lamb chops on Wednesday night as others were to fix meatloaf.
Good food demanded good music and Ms. Glore, a jazz aficionado, complied. She shared the likes of John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jarreau and Michael Franks with those around her.
“Her life was steeped in gentility,” said her sister Janet, “and those who were privy to her quick wit were often caught by surprise.”
Among those who enjoyed her many talents and largesse were St. Louis Girl Friends, The Links Incorporated, Jack & Jill of America and the boards of the St. Louis Art Museum Friends, the St. Louis Chapter of UNICEF, and the Junior League of St. Louis.
Life Well Lived
Adrienne Lyman Glore was born October 4, 1942, in Houston, Tex., the middle child of Hughes Joseph Lyman, M.D., and Jamesanna Carr Lyman. She graduated from Cushing Academy, a college preparatory school in Massachusetts.
She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Speech and Hearing Pathology from Howard University, and did additional coursework in speech pathology at the University of Houston.
In 1968, she marriedEdward Byron Glore Jr.and moved with him to his hometown of St. Louis. They later divorced.
Before joining the Washington University staff, Ms. Glore was a speech therapist in Houston and subsequently in the St. Louis City public schools.
Ms. Glore’s survivors include her daughter, Gabrielle Glore of Brooklyn, N.Y., and two sisters, Janet Johnson of Gaithersburg, Md. and Lynne Lyman of Houston, Tex.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, December 3, in Graham Memorial Chapel at Washington University. Her ashes will be spread off the Isle of Capri, one of her most cherished destinations among her travels.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to the John B. Ervin Endowed Scholarship. Make checks payable to Washington University, Memo: Ervin Scholars–Adrienne Glore, and mail to Washington University, Campus Box 1082, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Mo., 63130.
