Glenn Wetherby Preston

Glenn Preston, son of the late Elmer and Nora Preston, died Saturday, December 28, 2013. Born in Welch, WV, and raised in Hamden, CT, Glenn graduated from Hamden High School. His studies at Trinity College were interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy during WWII as an aviator and radar operator.
After completing his B.S. in mathematics and physics at Trinity, he attended Yale University, where he obtained an M.S. in physics. During a 30 year career in electronics, he worked at Philco Corp. on color television imaging; Goodyear Aerospace on guided missiles development; General Atomics on advanced radar image technology; and Control Data Corp. He was a consultant to the Rand Corporation, the National Academy of Science, the National Research Board, and the Institute of Defense Research, and a member of the Software Panel of the Air Force Science Advisory Committee.
He owned a company that sold reverse-osmosis water purifiers and another at which he sought to algorithmically determine optimal stock portfolios. Other pursuits included politics (he unsuccessfully ran for congress in a by-election in 1958) and the development and marketing of a board game that was based on principles of mathematical game theory.
After retiring from the Institute for Defense Analysis, he became an avid PC enthusiast, developing sophisticated algorithms to manipulate digital images. Along with his technical interests, he loved bridge, music, art and poetry. He was devoted to his wife, Ruth, with whom he resided in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, for the last 28 years. A previous marriage ended in divorce.
Along with his wife, Ruth, Glenn is survived by three sons, Geoffrey, Charles and Peter; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.