Konstantin Dmitrievich Glinka (July 5, 1867, Koptovo village, Smolensk province, November 2, 1927, Leningrad) was an outstanding Russian and Soviet mineralogist, geologist, geographer, soil scientist, and organizer of science. He held the position of professor and was an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences from 1927.

Glinka was born on June 23 (July 5) 1867 in Koptovo village, Dukhovshchinsky district, Smolensk province, Russian Empire, and came from the noble Glinka family. In 1876 and 1885, he studied at the Smolensk Classical Gymnasium, and then entered the Natural Sciences Department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty at St. Petersburg University, which he graduated from in 1889 with a first-degree diploma. On the recommendation of V. V. Dokuchaev, he remained at the mineralogy department to prepare for a professorship and in 1890 was appointed curator of the university's mineralogical cabinet. In 1889 and 1906, Glinka was in the reserve of the army infantry and was discharged upon reaching the mandatory service term.

He began his scientific career in geology and soil science at the university under the guidance of V. V. Dokuchaev, participating in the Poltava expedition (1889, 1890) and the Forest Department expedition (1892). Glinka organized research in Smolensk, Novgorod, Pskov, and Voronezh provinces. In 1906 and 1910, he led soil and geological research in various provinces, and in 1908 and 1914, he headed soil research in Asian Russia.

In 1909, he participated in organizing the I International Agrogeological Conference in Budapest, and in 1912, he transformed the Soil Commission of the Free Economic Society into the Dokuchaev Soil Committee. Glinka continued the development of the Dokuchaev school of soil science and had students in Russia, Hungary, Germany, and Finland.

Since 1890, he conducted practical classes in crystallography and crystal optics, and in 1894, he was appointed assistant at the New Alexandria Institute of Agriculture and Forestry. In 1897, he became an adjunct professor of mineralogy and geology, and from 1899, he began lecturing on soil science. In 1900, he became a professor of geology, and from 1901, a professor of soil science. In 1908, he was confirmed as the chairman of the professors' disciplinary court.

In 1911, Glinka retired and moved to St. Petersburg, where he opened a course in soil science. In 1912, he became a professor at the Higher Women's Courses. In 1913 and 1917, he founded and headed the Voronezh Agricultural Institute. In 1922, he was appointed rector and organizer of the Petrograd Agricultural Institute and professor of soil science. In 1923, he worked at the State Institute of Experimental Agronomy.

On January 2, 1926, Glinka became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and on April 2, 1927, he was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, becoming the first soil scientist to receive this title. In the same year, he headed the V. V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In the summer of 1927, Glinka led the Soviet delegation at the I International Congress of Soil Scientists in Washington and was elected president of the II International Congress of Soil Scientists. After returning to Leningrad, he fell ill and soon passed away on November 2, 1927. He was buried at Shuvalov Cemetery.