Glancy’s lasting legacy was only in the tremendous utility and wide range of her research work. Soon after completing her PhD, Glancy had to abandon her hopes for a career in astronomy. After seeing men without her training and credentials secure the available positions, she despaired of ever using her scientific talents, and even considered taking a job in an airplane factory.
But in 1918, an opportunity came from American Optical, than the largest supplier of eyewear in the US, where the eminent Dr. E. D. Tillyer saw that Glancy’s skills could advance the company’s key research projects.
Tillyer became famous in the field, but few know that the mathematical work that made his breakthrough lens possible was undertaken by his colleague Estelle Glancy.
She later noted that this single project “took the greater part of ten years.” More than three decades after joining the research team in Southbridge, MA, in 1918, Glancy was still the only woman in her field.
By then she was more than a pioneering woman in science, but also a catalyst for the innovations of others. Her papers were studied at universities, her patents advanced the field of optics, and her know-how laid the foundation for further improvements in vision correction for millions of people.