Robert Willard Gleason, 94

Robert Willard Gleason, 94, passed away peacefully following a brief illness, surrounded by family members on July 17, 2026, in Middlebury, Vermont.

Robert (Bob) was born on February 9, 1932, in Santiago, Chile, son of Frances Henderson Gleason and Isaac Willard Gleason. At age 2, he and his family returned to the United States, settling in Belvidere, New Jersey.

Bob graduated from Belvidere High School in 1949 with a post-graduate year at Blair Academy, in Blairstown, New Jersey. On the recommendation of a Blair Academy guidance counselor, he applied sight-unseen to Middlebury College, was accepted, and, in the fall of 1950, drove into Middlebury, Vermont, and up the hill to the college campus for the first time. This trip would prove to be the defining event of his life’s trajectory.

At Middlebury, Bob received his bachelor’s in physics in 1954 but decided in the fall of his senior year that he wanted to attend medical school. Having made that decision late in his undergraduate studies, he took the Medical College Admission Test while also taking his first college chemistry class. Without the necessary chemistry background, Bob missed a passing score (by one point) on the exam to apply to medical schools. Undaunted and still determined to pursue medicine, he decided to take advantage of Middlebury’s small master of science program, subsequently earning his master of science degree in chemistry in 1956. In a curious twist of fate, during his extra studies, he became fascinated with organic chemistry and decided to forgo medical school, focusing his academic energies instead on organic chemistry.

During the first year of his master’s degree studies, Bob met his future wife, Betsy Brown Heath, who was a freshman at Middlebury. After her graduation, they married in Somerville, New Jersey, on August 2, 1958, and spent their first two years living in Melrose, while Bob completed his doctoral studies at MIT. In 1960, they moved to Middlebury, where Bob had accepted a one-year temporary appointment to teach chemistry at Middlebury College; he was later offered a full-time faculty position and continued his teaching career until his retirement in 1994.

While at Middlebury, Bob chaired the chemistry and natural sciences departments and served as dean of sciences and dean of faculty. His academic and service legacy extended beyond the college: He served on the Educational Testing Service Advanced Placement Test Committee grading AP chemistry tests. He was central to the development of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, (EPSCoR), which supported the research of colleagues at Middlebury and elsewhere in Vermont.

As a dedicated professor at Middlebury, Bob pushed gently but compellingly for the legitimacy of the sciences in the liberal arts. His leadership was felt in the quality of the faculty he recruited, in his expectations for the chemistry department and the natural sciences division, and in his pivotal role in obtaining grants to keep Middlebury’s science departments on the cutting edge.

Bob Gleason left an indelible imprint on the intellectual history of Middlebury College. At his core, he was a teacher. His teaching, which was never fully restricted to the classroom, was characterized by modesty, generosity, personability, and encouragement.  Generations of students knew him as an imperturbable, ever patient and enthusiastic tutor, a man through whom the problems of organic chemistry became challenges of intellect. Bob’s students always learned as much about themselves as they did about chemistry. Although a passionate scientist, Bob was a stickler for English grammar; he faithfully and persistently guided his students (and his children, grandchildren, and his many caregivers) in using proper grammar, whether it be in a casual conversation or a scientific technical thesis.

On his retirement, he was toasted as follows: “Professor Robert Gleason leaves us with over 34 years of gift and growth, a department and division immeasurably stronger for his contributions, and the friendship and example of a man who, with the iron integrity which characterizes everything he does, has done it all and done it well.”

In the local community, Bob served as a deacon and chair of the Prudential Committee of the Congregational Church, as a founding member and president of the Friends of Middlebury (youth) Hockey; he sat on the local school board for 15 years, and he and Betsy co-chaired the Addison County United Way annual capital campaign. His capstone service contribution was serving in leadership roles to support the Middlebury College bicentennial celebration in 2000, including, with Betsy, as named benefactors of the McCardell Bicentennial Hall science facility capital campaign.

Bob took great interest in and loved spending time with his children and grandchildren. He enjoyed weekends skiing with his family, golfing, gardening, woodworking, home improvement projects, keeping bees, and early morning runs through Middlebury’s covered bridge. He loved traveling with Betsy, winter snowstorms, a crackling fire, fall hikes, golden retrievers, and the Boston Red Sox.

Bob will be remembered as a man of principle, integrity, and strong moral character, with an intellectual curiosity and a dogged determination for doing things right the first time. He saw positives in everything and everywhere and always made time to lend an ear. He was honest, genuine, humble, and sincere, and he frequently delighted himself and others with his silly sense of humor. He had striking blue eyes that twinkled when he smiled — which was often.

Bob is predeceased by his parents, his brother Lawrence, and loving wife Betsy. He leaves behind his three children Nancy Simms of Dover, Amy Barrett (Bill) of Acton, and Mark (Shannon) of Salisbury, Vermont; nine grandchildren Britty (Corey), Max (Merrill), Robert, Caroline, Allie (Dennis), Lizzie, Andrew, Catherine, and Abby; and two great-grandchildren Margot and Brooks.

A memorial service and celebration of life will be held on Saturday, November 14, at 11 a.m. at the Congregational Church in Middlebury; a reception will follow at Bicentennial Hall on Middlebury’s campus.