A native of Switzerland, Pierre Gloor (1923-2003) received his medical education at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and did his postgraduate work in neurology and neurosurgery at l'hôpital Louis Pasteur in Colmar, France. He joined McGill's Montreal Neurological Institute in 1952 as a fellow in electroencephalography and neurophysiology, where he studied with Wilder Penfield and Herbert Jasper, receiving his Ph.D. from McGill in 1957. He began lecturing at McGill in 1954 as an Assistant Professor, became a Full Professor in 1968 in the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, and a McGill Emeritus Professor in 1998. Pierre Gloor worked closely with the clinical and research teams at the Montreal Neurological Institute in the treatment of epilepsy. His work in understanding and treating this disorder earned him a worldwide reputation.
Dr. Gloor was a teacher-clinician-scientist-scholar able to mesh these activities to an incredible degree, to bring the latest experimental results to bear on clinical decisions, and to use clinical knowledge to design theories and experiments. Among his numerous awards are the Robert Bing prize, Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, 1962; the Michael Prize, West Germany, 1980; the William G. Lennox award, American Epilepsy Society, 1981; the Jasper award, American Electroencephalographic Society, 1988; the Wilder Penfield award, Canadian League Against Epilepsy, 1990; the Epilepsy Research Award, American Epilepsy Society Milken Family Foundation, 1994. He was a president of the Canadian as well as the American Electroencephalographic Societies and of the American Epilepsy Society. He published approximately 250 scientific articles covering wide areas of brain research. His definitive monograph, entitled "The Temporal Lobe and Limbic System", published by Oxford University Press in 1997, was a culmination of his life's interest in the anatomy and physiology of the temporal lobe and its disorders. He was a key figure in the training of graduate students in neuroscience and of young physicians in neurology. He had a prominent role in training a generation of now internationally renowned experts. He took an active part in teaching EEG technologists and in organizing a CEGEP program, resulting in Quebec having superbly trained EEG technologists. He also acted as a consultant to many Montreal hospitals.
