He served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death, and his pioneering work in biblical archaeology resulted in the discovery of 1,500 ancient sites.

During World War II, Glueck used his intimate knowledge of Palestine's geography to help the Office of Strategic Services develop a contingency plan for a retreat from German field marshal Rommel's advance through Northern Africa.

Using irrigation, the Nabataeans were able to grow crops and develop a densely populated civilization in the Negev desert, despite receiving under 6 inches (15 cm) of rainfall a year.

[citation needed] Glueck's scholarship led to personal relationships with many world leaders: he delivered the benediction at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961; and he was personal friends with many of the State of Israel's early leaders, including David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban, Golda Meir, Henrietta Szold and Judah Magnes.

They include Explorations in Eastern Palestine (4 vol., 1934–51), The Other Side of the Jordan (1940), The River Jordan (1946), Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (1959), Deities and Dolphins (1965), and Hesed in the Bible (1968)...Even though he worked to develop a historical understanding of biblical events and argued that the archaeological finds do affirm the biblical descriptions,[7] he always maintained that his faith was not based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.