Black History Month and UW Urology: Glover Barnes, PhD

UW Urology celebrates Black History Month by remembering Glover W. Barnes, PhD (1923-2010) the first Black research faculty member in the department. Dr. Barnes grew up in Birmingham, AL, leaving the South after World War II to study at Akron University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1949. He then earned his Masters Degree in Biology and his PhD in Microbiology in 1956 and 1962, respectively at the State University of New York in Buffalo, N.Y. After early academic appointments in New York, he joined the UW as Associate Professor at the University of Washington. He became a tenured Professor at the University of Washington in 1976.

Dr. Barnes’s long career included almost 4 decades as a professor and lecturer of urology, microbiology and immunology at the University of Washington. His research was focused on human prostate-gland proteins, which helped later investigators develop the PSA test, and male contraception. Being one of the few African-American members of a major university’s medical faculty, he spent much of his career and life helping to promote diversity and opportunities for people of color. During his time at the UW and in Seattle, Dr. Barnes worked for many organizations, including the Committee for Encouragement and Recruitment of Minorities in Health Sciences, Faculty Council on Community Services, and Black Faculty and Administrators Organization. He was honored in 2006 by the National Association of Medical Minority Educators as a “Diversity Trailblazer.” Dr. Barnes also was a community activist, pursuing such causes as civil rights, health issues, public transit and neighborhood representation.