An Image of former JILAn Cheryl Glenn
On January 12, 2022, former JILAn Cheryl Glenn passed away. Known as a wonderful friend and leading light, Cheryl’s passing has left a hole in the JILA community. From 1978 to 2011, Cheryl was the Executive Assistant at JILA, helping the Fellows and bettering the JILA culture overall. According to Krista Beck, Fellows Assistant to Eric Cornell, Carl Lineberger, and the Physics Frontier Center, Cheryl was always there for support. When Krista had adopted her second child, a newborn, Cheryl helped teach Krista how to become a mother. “Cheryl was also a really good friend to all the visiting Fellows,” Krista added. In her free time, Cheryl enjoyed knitting, sewing, baking, music, watching movies, playing games, volunteering, and having long conversations on the phone with loved ones. She loved to sing songs and tell stories to her grandchildren, Benjamin and Zachary. She considered being a mother and grandmother her most precious endeavor.
Cheryl’s work has a permanent impact at JILA, as two of the paintings near reception in the JILA tower depict her working. Cheryl joined JILA in August of 1978, after moving to Colorado from Mason City, Iowa. In 2007, she gave an oral history to the Boulder Public Library about the history of JILA. In the transcript, Cheryl discusses the work culture of JILA. “I think, is we have very good support staff. I have to mention that as well, people who are here work long hours. You see them coming in on weekends and at night. We go beyond, I think, what might be in one's job description, of doing those extra things that we aren't required to do. We do teamwork among the support staff. I think that's a very important part of the support that we give to the fellows.” Her explanation reflects her own contributions. Her generous personality and dedication to JILA will be remembered in the hearts and minds of those who knew her.
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.