Arthur Glowka was born February 5, 1931, in New York City. In Syracuse, he attended New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where he graduated in 1952 with a degree in forestry. After college, from 1952 to 1957, Glowka was a U.S. naval aviator, and during this time he went on photoreconnaissance missions over the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe. After his work in the navy, he went to New Orleans and resumed diving with his friend Al Warriner. Warriner was a Gulf Coast master diver, who had taught Glowka underwater drilling and blasting. Glowka then traveled to Brazil, where he met commercial divers Bob Ballinger and Joao Mandica. The three men became partners and Glowka’s skills vastly increased the production of their alluvial diamond and gold mining operation on the Tocatins River. In 1959 Arthur Glowka married Marion Stadler and in the same year he began flying for Eastern Airlines. In 1981 he belly-landed a B-727 with 72 passengers at John F. Kennedy Airport, no one was injured, as the plane skidded 3,000 feet to a stop on a runway. Glowka retired as a captain of Eastern Airlines in 1989.

Another major concern throughout Glowka’s life was the protection of the environment. Specifically, Glowka worked toward tougher water pollution control in regards to sewage plants in the Long Island Sound. He, along with six others, formed the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association, which would later serve as a model for the U.S. environmental movement. The Association resurrected the Federal Refuse Act of 1899 and continued their aggressive style of environmental activism, winning a series of legal battles, ultimately inspiring the nation to follow suit. The group continued their work and in 1986 evolved into the Hudson Riverkeeper, the watchdog organization dedicated to keeping New York’s water clean. Glowka continued his work as an environmental activist and remained involved in the Riverkeeper, the Hudson River Foundation, and the Long Island Taskforce. He also was active in the Soundkeeper, Soundwaters, and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Glowka was awarded the Feinstone Environmental Award in 1980 in recognition for his long and distinguished work as an environmental activist. Beyond participation in environmental groups, Glowka had a deep interest in the environmental well – being of the Long Island Sound. He proved to be an effective citizen-scientist and found errors in various government and science articles and played a significant role in improving the water quality of the Sound for the wildlife in the water and humans surrounding it.