Obituaries

Memorial Planned for SPSU Professor

Professor Emeritus R. Glenn Allen was one of the original faculty members of the Division of Engineering and nurtured the Mechatronics Engineering Program, which now has 217 enrolled students.

Professor Emeritus R. Glenn Allen, ’s 2010-11 Teacher of the Year, lost a hard-fought battle with cancer on April 3.

“Glenn was one of the great ones, as all of his colleagues and students can readily attest,” wrote Dr. Zvi Szafran, vice president for academic affairs, in his blog, The Weekly Blab.

Family, friends and colleagues will gather on Thursday, April 12, at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church in Marietta to pay tribute to Professor Allen.

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Visitation in the gym from 5-5:45 p.m. will be followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary and then another visitation until 7:45 p.m. The church is located at 4495 Sandy Plains Rd., Marietta 30066.

Professor Allen was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June 2010. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and while participating in a research study at Duke University’s Brain Tumor Center, he continued to teach and perform his duties as the founding director of the Mechatronics Engineering Program until he retired in June 2011.

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He was one of the original faculty members of the Division of Engineering (now a school) and nurtured the Mechatronics Engineering Program, which celebrated its first graduates in spring 2011 and now has 217 enrolled students, making it one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States.

But Prof. Allen’s association with SPSU goes back further than his hiring in 1995. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) in 1980 from what was known as the Southern College of Technology and then a master’s degree in computer science in 1995 before joining the MET faculty.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the following organizations:

• The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center (www.cancer.duke.edu/btc), DUMC Box 3624, Durham, NC 27710

• The Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation (www.sbtf.org), PO Box 422471, Atlanta, GA 30342

• The SPSU Foundation (www.spsu.edu/foundation/contact/), (checks may be designated to fund the Engineering Innovation Scholarship Endowment founded by Prof. Allen,) Office of Advancement, 1100 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060


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