Lillian Glass

• Name — Lillian Glass • Birthplace — Miami, Florida, U.S. • Alma Mater — Bradley University University of Michigan UCLA School of Medicine University of Minnesota Pepperdine University • Occupation — Interpersonal communication and body language expert Media commentator Litigation consultant • Website — http: www.drlillianglass.com/

Lillian Glass was born and raised in Miami, Florida, the daughter of businessman Abraham Glass and Rosalee Glass (née Talerman), an interior decorator and actress. Glass graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School and was inducted into the "Coral Gables Senior High School Hall of Fame" in 2023. Glass received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bradley University in speech and hearing sciences, where she was named one of Glamour Magazine's "Top 10 College Girls". She earned her Master of Science from the University of Michigan, where she became interested in gender differences in communication and the study of cranial and dental-facial abnormalities. She received a doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota and was awarded a Bush Foundation fellowship. She majored in communication disorders, with an emphasis on speech and hearing sciences, and minored in clinical genetics. Her doctoral dissertation focused on "Psychosocial Perceptions of Speech and Cosmetic Appearance of Patients with Craniofacial Abnormalities". She received a post-doctorate in medical genetics at UCLA School of Medicine. She and medical geneticist Robert J. Gorlin discovered a new syndrome, Glass Gorlin Syndrome, which was named after them.

Glass became an associate professor at the University of Southern California (USC). She held joint appointments with the school of medicine, department of medical genetics, school of dentistry and department of speech communication. She was a researcher at the University of Southern California Speech Research Lab.

Glass began her television career as a co-host on Alive and Well on USA Network and as a psychology reporter for KABC. She has since appeared as a commentator on a variety of news, reality and talk shows, including Good Morning America, Today, CNN, MSNBC, Inside Edition, 20/20, Dancing With the Stars (Season 8), Millionaire Matchmaker, Busted and Disgusted, and Dr. Phil. and appeared as herself on the reality show "I'm With Busey." Glass has written a monthly body language column for Cosmopolitan. She publishes "Dr. Lillian Glass Body Language Blog" and also writes about celebrities and newsmakers in her column Reading People for Psychology Today. She has contributed to Women in Crime Ink.

At 18, Glass was awarded "Princess of the Americas" in a beauty pageant sponsored by the Inter-American Alliance, held in Miami Beach, Florida, at the Fountainbleau Hotel. In 1989, she served as a judge in the Miss USA Pageant for Miss Universe, held in Mobile, Alabama. She was awarded the title of "Senior Ms. Minnesota " in 2005 and participated in the Ms. Senior America Pageant, where she won the title of "Ms. Senior America- Community Service Winner" in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Glass was featured at th 8th annual Holiday Cabert in Palm Beach benefiting "A Safe Haven For Newborns" where she presented the charity with a donation on behalf of the Ms. Senior America Organization.

As a USC professor, Glass warned the public against the dangers of noise pollution.

The concept of "toxic people" as it's used in modern vernacular was popularized and coined by Glass in her 1995 book Toxic People - 10 Ways of Dealing with People Who Make Your Life Miserable. El País wrote of the term "Though it is difficult to say with any certainty when the phrase was first used, it's like[ly] that the "toxic" tag was coined by U.S. author Lillian Glass, who published her book Toxic People in 1995. Her work became a worldwide best-seller and the irresistibly evocative term began to spread.