GLENN A. GOODFRIEND, AMINO ACID RACEMIZATION GEOCHEMIST, GEOCHRONOLOGIST, PALEONTOLOGIST, QUATERNARIST, GEOARCHAEOLOGIST, WINE CONNOISSEUR AND COLLECTOR, GOURMAND, AND GENERAL GOOD FRIEND

On October 15, 2002, just before the national GSA meetings he rarely missed, Glenn Goodfriend passed away prematurely at 51. Following a serious illness that started early in 2002, he died at GWU Hospital from pneumonia and other complications due to rhinocerebral mucormycosis, a systemic fungal disease. Glenn is survived by his father and stepmother, Morton and Teresa Goodfriend.

A multidisciplinary scientist, Glenn studied evolutionary land snail ecology, amino acid racemization biogeochemistry and geochronology, and applied these to problems in Quaternary stratigraphy, paleontology, zoology, geoarchaeology, paleoclimatology, and the marine sciences.

A native of New Rochelle, NY, Glenn graduated with Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Florida in 1983. From 1983 to 1988, he worked as a PDF, research scientist, and then a senior scientist at the Weizmann Institute. From 1990 to 1998, he was a Senior Research Associate in the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University (1993-1995). From 1998, Glenn was a Research Professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at George Washington University.

Glenn published more than 40 scientific papers, many of them seminal classics, not counting many he left unfinished on his computer. As a broad scientific thinker, he collaborated on projects ranging from taphonomy to ¹⁴C calibration. After organizing the 1998 international AAR conference, Glenn served as lead editor on Perspectives in Amino Acid and Protein Geochemistry (Goodfriend et al., eds., 2000). In 2002, he held almost 400 k$ in NSF grants.

We will remember Glenn for his amazing ability to help others and his phenomenal attention to scientific detail. He allowed colleagues and students alike to pick his brain about lab procedures and research ideas, and would take time from his busy schedule to help troubleshoot experiments. He was indefatiguable in the field and laboratory. Glenn loved good food, tasting and collecting fine wines. His cellar had several hundred bottles, from which he often treated friends to an exceptional bouquet. His many colleagues will sorely miss his scientific creativity and contributions. Like a fine wine, he was gone too soon.