The Partnership Scholars Program community is deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Glenn Langer, our founder and long-time leader. Anyone who met Glenn immediately felt the power of his personality and his passion for creating a better world than the one he entered. With his creation of Partnership Scholars Program in in 1996, Dr. Langer took a simple idea and created a lasting legacy across California. In founding PSP, Dr. Langer and his late wife Marianne together created opportunities for more than 600 students to date to achieve their dreams of college and lifetime success.  

Dr. Langer grew up in the Great Depression, an experience that firmly shaped his world view. As he wrote in in his 2004 memoir, “I firmly believe that had I not been lucky enough to be born and live in the United States of America, I would not have graduated from college, gone on to medical school and then had all the options and opportunities which that education provided. It is this belief which prompted me to establish a pre-college education program here in California… Our goal is to break the cycle of poverty and social discrimination and allow our talented ‘Scholars’ to develop to their full potential…”

He brought that vision to life nearly 25 years ago and it remains a strong force today in the PSP communities of Lennox, El Monte and Hawthorne in Southern California, and in Fort Bragg, Mendocino and Ukiah in Northern California.

At Dr. Langer’s request, there will not be a funeral ceremony. His wife has asked that any  cards and memorial gifts be directed to Partnership Scholars Program, PO Box 156, El Segundo, CA 90245 or online here.

Our wishes for peace and comfort go out to Dr. Langer’s family. 

Please read on for Dr. Langer’s full obituary, demonstrating his far-reaching impact and legacy. 

Glenn A. Langer, M.D., Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Physiology and the Castera Endowed Chair in Cardiology at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), formerly of Little River, California, died on June 19, 2019, in San Jose, California.

Glenn Arthur Langer was born to Marie and Arthur Langer on May 5, 1928, in Nyack, New York, some 60 miles north of Manhattan. He graduated from Pearl River High School and obtained his undergraduate degree from Colgate University in upstate New York. He then earned his M.D. degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, graduating in 1954. He served for 2 years as captain in the US Army in Ft. Hood, Texas. After completing his internship and an internal medicine
residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he joined the faculty at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Physiology, where he established his own basic research laboratory in cardiovascular physiology. In 1960, he was recruited to UCLA to join the recently established Los Angeles County American Heart Association Cardiovascular Research Laboratories at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he spent the remainder of his academic career until his retirement in 1997.

At UCLA, he rapidly established himself and the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory as an internationally preeminent research center at the cutting edge of cardiovascular science. He published over 200 scientific articles and co-authored several influential books elucidating the mechanisms by which the electrical activity of the heart regulates its contraction under normal and diseased conditions. He rapidly rose through the academic ranks to full Professor, and subsequently became the inaugural holder of the Castera Endowed Chair in Cardiology, served as the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Laboratories, Vice-Chair of the Department of Physiology and the Associate Dean for Research in the School of Medicine. In his many years of seminal research, Dr. Langer received numerous academic and humanitarian awards, notably from the American Heart Association.

Throughout his career, Dr. Langer was a legendary inspirational mentor and teacher, whose self-described mantra was “I get paid for my hobby.” He maintained an open door policy for students and colleagues to stop by his office spontaneously for scientific or personal advice. A number of his trainees subsequently became went on to become major leaders in academic medicine and cardiovascular science, both at UCLA and major universities throughout the world.

Upon retiring in 1997, Dr. Langer devoted himself to his lifelong passion of supporting culturally and economically disadvantaged youth. Together with his late wife Marianne, he created the Partnership Scholars Program in Los Angeles dedicated “to provide for students in 7th through 12th grades what a middle class family would provide for their college-bound child.” The Program now operates in 7 California school districts and to date has graduated over 500 students from over 61 colleges and universities nationwide.

Dr. Langer is survived by his wife Renate (Schlicht) of Los Gatos, California, daughter Andrea (Langer) Wakeman and her husband Larry Wakeman of Coopersburg, PA, stepson Benjamin Phister of Paris/France and his wife Sophie Epstein, stepdaughter Madeleine Grucza and her
husband Dr. Richard Grucza of St. Louis, MO, stepdaughter Maria Crum and her husband Stuart Crum of Houston, TX, stepson Peter Frick of Kansas City, MO and 4 grandchildren and 3 step-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the PARTNERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM, PO Box  156, El Segundo, CA 90245.