Virginia M. Glass (1926- )

     Virginia Glass needs no introduction to followers of San Diego tennis. A native of the Philippines, she made her way to the United States in 1945 fleeing a war in which she endured three years of concentration camp as well as the loss of her father and two sisters. Glass's high marks on a national merit examination paved the way for her to attend and graduate from Columbia University. Virginia introduced her sons Sidney and Luis to tennis and they eached received college tennis scholarships. Upon moving to San Diego in the early sixties, she became heavily involved in the sport, as a tournament player, director, volunteer, official, writer and administrator. Glass was among the founders of the Mountain View Tennis Club in 1968, which has emphasized junior development in a multicultural setting. Virginia was the first female president of the American Tennis Association, the oldest African American sports organization, a position she held for two terms.The ATA has produced stars Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe and Zina Garrison among others. She is one of the original founders of the San Diego District Tennis Association and the San Diego Umpires Association. Glass was the west coast editor for Black Tennis Magazine. In 1989, she was the number one player in the world in the 60 division. Virginia represented the United States in the Friendship Cup in Mexico City and captained the Althea Gibson World Cup in the 70s. She has been past president of the SDDTA and was nominated for the USTA Executive Board. Currently, Virginia is on the boards of the SCTA and SDDTA and is the chair of the San Diego Multicultural Committee. For her work with the SCTA Community Tennis Development, she received the SCTA Lifetime Achievement award in 2008.