Glenn E. Cullen who became the first chairman of the Department of Biochemistry in the newly reorganized Vanderbilt Medical School, was born April 1, 1890, Isle St. George, Ontario, Canada. He received both his A.B. (Chemistry, 1912) and B. Chem. Eng. (1913) from the University of Michigan. He graduated with a Ph.D. from Columbia University (1917). A native of Canada, Cullen was a research chemist at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research From 1913-1922. In association with D.D. Van Slyke, he developed widely used methodologies in clinical chemistry. From 1922-1924, Cullen was Associate Professor of Research, University of Pennsylvania Medical School. In 1924 he was chosen by G. Canby Robinson to become the first Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry in the newly organizaed Vanderbilt Medical School and was awarded a travelling fellowship in Europe prior to the opening of the new medical facilities in 1926.

Dr. Cullen resigned his professorhip in 1931 to become the Director of Laboratories of the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was later elected President of the American Society of Biological Chemists (1937-1939).