Ralph Edward Glatfelter, also known as Ed by family and friends, was born on November 21, 1939 in Wenatchee Washington to his parents Ralph and Mary Horey. After his father passed in WWII, Ed was raised by his mother and her parents on their farm. He obtained degrees from Whitman College in 1962 and Indiana University (IU) in 1965. While attending IU, he met Marilynne Tanberg, and the two were married in 1966. In 1970, Ed was hired to teach Russian and Chinese history at Utah State University (USU). Ed was passionate about travel and encourage his students to explore and learn more about the world. He extended this passion to many of the projects and programs he was a part of including his time as a lecture and later Executive Dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea program and the year he spent as a visiting scholar at the Academy of Social Sciences of Shanghai in China. At USU, Ed also served as the chair of the Scholarly Publications Committee of the USU Press, established the International Student Exchange Program in the 1980s, and was a co-founded USU’s Asian Studies Program. Between 1984 to 1994, Ed was the head of the USU’s History department from and from 1994 to 2012 he the associate dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Ed also was the president of both the Rocky Mountain Association for Slavic Studies and the Western Social Science Association. After 43 years, Ed retired from USU in 2013. Ed spent the remainder of his life, gardening and traveling with his wife. Ed passed away on October 19, 2023.