Educator and literary critic. He is best known for his tenure as president of Morehouse College from 1967 to 1987. Gloster was a native of Brownsville, Tennessee, where his parents came to teach in 1886 after graduating from Roger Williams University in Nashville. His parents emphasized spiritual devotion, education, accomplishment and the social responsibility of demanding full citizenship rights. Gloster's early education began at Brownsville and was continued in Memphis at Howe Institute and Lemoyne College, when his family left Brownsville in 1915 amidst local racial turmoil. Gloster earned an undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in 1931. He subsequently earned the first ever master's degree in English awarded by Atlanta University. He earned a doctorate degree from New York University in 1943. He was a founding member of the College Language Association in 1937. His long and illustrious career in higher education began at as a teacher at LeMoyne College from 1933 to 1941. He proceeded to Hampton Institute where he served from 1946 to 1967. He served as Fullbright Professor of English at Hiroshima University in Japan from 1953 to 1955. From 1961 to 1962, he served as Visiting Professor of English in the International Educational Exchnage Program at the University of Warsaw in Poland. In both of these positions, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Gloster was the first American to serve under U.S. government auspices following the Second World War. In 1967 he succeeded Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays as president at Morehouse, becoming the first alumnus to do so. During his presidency, he doubled the student enrollment, orchestrated substantial physical growth of the campus and increased the percentage of faculty members with Ph.D degrees to more than 65 percent. "Negro Voices in American Fiction," his pioneering work in black literary criticism, was published in 1948. Following his retirement from Morehouse, Gloster served as a consultant to the Southern Association for the Accreditation of Schools and Colleges. Following his death, he was buried on the campus of Morehouse College. His grave rests near Gloster Hall, which was named in his honor.
Educator and literary critic. He is best known for his tenure as president of Morehouse College from 1967 to 1987. Gloster was a native of Brownsville, Tennessee, where his parents came to teach in 1886 after graduating from Roger Williams University in Nashville. His parents emphasized spiritual devotion, education, accomplishment and the social responsibility of demanding full citizenship rights. Gloster's early education began at Brownsville and was continued in Memphis at Howe Institute and Lemoyne College, when his family left Brownsville in 1915 amidst local racial turmoil. Gloster earned an undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in 1931. He subsequently earned the first ever master's degree in English awarded by Atlanta University. He earned a doctorate degree from New York University in 1943. He was a founding member of the College Language Association in 1937. His long and illustrious career in higher education began at as a teacher at LeMoyne College from 1933 to 1941. He proceeded to Hampton Institute where he served from 1946 to 1967. He served as Fullbright Professor of English at Hiroshima University in Japan from 1953 to 1955. From 1961 to 1962, he served as Visiting Professor of English in the International Educational Exchnage Program at the University of Warsaw in Poland. In both of these positions, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Gloster was the first American to serve under U.S. government auspices following the Second World War. In 1967 he succeeded Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays as president at Morehouse, becoming the first alumnus to do so. During his presidency, he doubled the student enrollment, orchestrated substantial physical growth of the campus and increased the percentage of faculty members with Ph.D degrees to more than 65 percent. "Negro Voices in American Fiction," his pioneering work in black literary criticism, was published in 1948. Following his retirement from Morehouse, Gloster served as a consultant to the Southern Association for the Accreditation of Schools and Colleges. Following his death, he was buried on the campus of Morehouse College. His grave rests near Gloster Hall, which was named in his honor.
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