Irvine Israel Glass (1918-1994) obtained his B.Sc. (1947) and M.Sc. (1948) in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Toronto. In 1950, he obtained his Ph.D. from the newly formed Institute of Aerophysics at the University of Toronto. He served in this Institute until his retirement in 1983, and thereafter he worked as Professor Emeritus. Glass made major contributions to gasdynamics research and shock-wave phenomena.
The collection includes correspondence, programs, notes and photoprints relating to trips to China, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere (1969-1985); certificates (1947-1985); and addresses. Some of his personal correspondence from 1981 to 1982 relates to his part in the campaign on behalf of Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet dissidents, while some from 1987 and 1988 concerns the campaign to allow Soviet Jewish refusniks to emigrate. Files relating to trips taken by Dr. Glass include material on his visits to the Soviet Union in 1961 and to Poland in 1965.