Glenn Altschuler is an American writer, university-level educator, administrator, and professor at Cornell University, where he is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies and a Weiss Presidential Fellow. Altschuler has taught large lecture courses in American popular culture and has been a strong advocate for the value of humanities and for high-quality undergraduate teaching and advising. He is a subject-matter expert on Popular Culture, Politics, and Higher Education in the United States.

Early life and education

Altschuler received his BA in history (Magna Cum Laude with Honors) from Brooklyn College in 1971, his MA from Cornell University in 1973, and his PhD in American history from Cornell in 1976.

Career

Altschuler began his teaching career as a history professor at Ithaca College in 1975. In 1981, he joined Cornell University as an administrator and teacher and became noted for his work on the history of American popular culture. He believes that popular culture is "contested terrain", which are economic classes and demographic groups who struggle to make their marks on society. His year-long course in American Popular Culture was among the most popular in the university. From 1991 to 2020, he served as Dean of the Cornell University School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, making him the longest-serving dean in the history of Cornell. Altschuler also served as Cornell's vice president for University Relations for four years, with responsibilities for articulating and overseeing strategies related to communications, government relations, and land grant affairs. Additional positions included Chair of the Academic Advising Center (1983-1991), Associate Dean for Advising and Alumni Affairs (1986-1991), and Chair of Cornell's Sesquicentennial Commission (2012-2015). For four years, Altschuler wrote a column on higher education for the Education Life section of The New York Times. From 2002 to 2005, he was a regular panelist on national and international affairs for the WCNY television program The Ivory Tower Half-Hour A popular speaker, Altschuler has given lectures throughout the United States, and in China, England, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and Russia; a collection of his papers may be found in the Cornell Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. He has written over 2,000 scholarly essays, opinion pieces, book reviews, and articles for publishers including The Australian, Barron's Financial Weekly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Conversation US, Forbes, The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, The Jerusalem Post, The New York Times, NPR's Books We Like, Psychology Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. The National Book Critics Circle has cited his work as "exemplary." Psychology Today has featured it as "essential reading." In his book-length poem, Glare (1997), A. R. Ammons, winner of two National Book Awards, wrote: “Glenn (inventively and wittily, as is his kaffeeklatsch wont) (also quite a singer and maker of songs) said why not let professors improve their pay by selling time to local commercial interests – apart from the midclass break that lets the kids visit the facilities, one could have one or more mini-breaks, such as… and now, have you tried the Downtown Bagelry…Glenn’s fun: also capable of pertinent and deep thought: we like him, as do others.”

Prizes, awards and honors

Books and sample videos