As a youth, Gantz achieved the top rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, and earned a Bronze Palm for further achievements.[7]
Glantz obtained a BSc in aerospace engineering] from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, an MSc in applied mechanics from Stanford University in 1970 and a PhD in applied mechanics and engineering-economic systems (EES), again from Stanford, in 1973 (EES, a Stanford department created in the late 1960s, involving computers and engineering, applies "methods of systems and economic analysis to engineering problems involving policy and decision making, both in government and industry"[8]). Concurrently with his studies he worked at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, first as a student trainee then as an aerospace engineer. In 1973, Glantz carried out postdoctoral research on the mathematical modeling of heart tissue at Stanford University and then at the University of California, San Francisco, where he has worked since 1977.[7][9]
He served for 10 years as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and is a member of the California State Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants of the California Air Resources Board. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2005.
He is the father of journalist Aaron Glantz and daughter Frieda Glantz.