Elbert D. Glover . . . Smokeless tobacco researcher

Biographical sketch of Elbert Glover. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.

The citation for this article is: "Elbert D. Glover . . . Smokeless tobacco researcher," Pieces of Eight, May 1, 1987.

---

Take heed, dippers and chewers -- if the American public continues to use smokeless tobacco at the current rate, "in 20 or 30 years we're going to experience an oral cancer epidemic," predicts Elbert D. Glover, associate professor in the Department of Community Health.

Glover should know -- he's one of the world's leading smokeless tobacco researchers.

He has presented professional papers all over the world -- as his 19-page vita shows -- and frequently speaks before the U.S. House and Senate concerning tobacco issues.

On February 27, 1986, when President Reagan signed the bill requiring that warning labels be placed on all smokeless tobacco products, "Fifty percent of the research he quoted was probably mine, which was truly an honor," Glover says.

He's been quoted in Time, Reader's Digest, Ladies Home Journal, Seventeen and other other magazines and has made guest appearances on "20/20" and Good Morning America.

Recognition for ECU

Publicity for Glover usually menas recognition for ECU. "Many people on campus cut out newspaper and magazine articles that I'm quoted in," he says. "I get several of these a week from faculty members I don't know with a note saying 'thanks for all the publicity you've given us around the country.' That's thoughtful of them."

Not everyone responds positively, however, Glover also gets his share of negative feedback. "It's frustrating because I honestly think I'm just doing my job," he says.

With ECU located in the heart of tobacco country, Glover is frequently accused of hurting the economy. "First of all, I'm conducting research and I'm entitled to that," he says. "More importantly, flue-cured tobacco, which is what we grow here, is not used to make smokeless tobacco products. If I were to find something positive about smokeless tobacco, I'd truthfully report it."

A native of Texas, Glover is a 1969 graduate of Texas Tech University. He received a master's from Texas A&I; Univeristy in 1972 and the PhD from Texas Woman's University in 1977.

He started out as a family therapist and sex counselor, but soon found the work boring. "People would come in with traditional sexual problems, and we would deal with them very dispassionately and matter-of-factly," he says. "I wanted something a little more exciting, so I started teaching human sexuality in a university setting."

The transition from human sexuality to tobacco came about as a result of his dissertation, which dealth with the use of subliminal perception (perception without awareness) in influencing smoking behavior. The depth of the research required him to learn everything about tobacco. Soon he was asked to lecture on the topic.

"People enjoyed my lectures on tobacco and kept asking me to do them. I was selected for the board of the American Cancer Society; they asked me to speak and to develop educational materials," he says. "Tobacco slowly but surely started taking over."

In the late '70s, his interests narrowed to smokeless. While studying smoking patterns in the Houston school district, Glover noticed that the number of smokers was below the national average. "I thought, our research is doing some good. Kids aren't smoking as much because they're becoming aware of the problem," he says. "As I investigated it further, I found that many smokers had switched to snuff and chewing tobacco."

After Glover discovered how little research had been done on the subject, he began his own studies.

In 1979, he conducted the nation's first statewide study in Texas on the use of smokeless tobacco. What he found was surprising. "We found a prevalence -- 12 to 15 percent -- among kids," he says. "In another study we found that kids were starting to use smokeless tobacco much younger than they started smoking because it was much more socially acceptable. Fifty percent of the kids who happened to be dipping and chewing started prior to age 12.

"I had many parents come up to me and say 'My son isn't smoking any ore, thank goodness, he's dipping and chewing,'" Glover says. "They saw it as a safer alternative because they didn't know a great deal about the health problems associated with smokeless tobacco."

The consequences of using smokeless tobacco didn't surface until a few deaths occurred. "People started wanting more information, which I happened to have," Glover says. "That's how I got thrust into the limelight."

First Into the Field

"I am truly lucky," he adds. "I happened to be at the right place at the right time. There are many researchers who are better than I am, but I happened to be the first person to seriously study the area."

Many of Glover's studies have been firsts. The study in Texas established some of the first patterns of use -- how people were using smokeless and how much they were using. "We established the operational definitions for light, moderate and heavy users by taking 150 smokeless users and checking the nicotine contents of all the products they were using to see how much they were consuming," Glover says. "We put that information on a bell curve and established heavy, light and moderate users. Those are the definitions that everyone is using around the country."

Glover also conducted the first national study of use among college and university students. "We found that 22 percent of males were dipping and chewing, as well as 2 percent of the females. That study is quoted often."

Debunks Some Myths

Another study showed that smokeless tobacco has little effect on central motor skills. "So many athletes were saying that smokeless tobacco made them quicker and more alert," Glover says. "We found out that simply wasn't true."

The thought of saving lives has never been an influencing factor in Glover's work. "I'm just conducting research," he says. "When I start trying to save lives, I take a position that's no longer neutral. My job is to educate people so they can make informed decisions. If they want to dip and chew, that is their business."

Enjoys Freedom at ECU

Glover has taught at Oklahoma State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Woman's University, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Texas A&M; University, and the University of Kansas. ECU is his first venture to the Southeast.

Glover appreciates the freedoms he's allowed at ECU. He teaches classes in sexual dysfunction and chemical dependency during the first part of the week, leaving the rest of the week open for speaking and consulting.

"I'll tell you how much I'm enjoying ECU," he says. "My goal as a researcher was to eventually end up at Harvard, Yale or Berkeley. This past year I was offered a job at Berkeley for $15,000 more than I'm earning here, and I turned it down."