Glyndon G. Van Deusen graduated from the University of Rochester in 1925 with an A.B. degree. In 1926 he received an A.M. from Amherst College and, in 1932, a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. He began teaching at the University of Rochester in 1930 as an instructor in the History Department. From 1954 to 1962 he was the chairman of the History Department and, from 1957 to 1960, associate dean of graduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.