Pierre Gloor was born in Basel, Switzerland on 5 April, 1923. Gloor was educated at the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Basel, and received his university medical training and M.D. at the University of Basel in 1949. He emigrated to Canada in early 1952, and subsequently received his Ph.D from McGill University in 1957. Gloor remained at McGill University as Professor of Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology from 1968 to 1988. Gloor made seminal contributions to the development of basic neuroscience, particularly in the field of electroencephalography for over four decades. As an electroencephalographer and consultant at various Montreal-area research institutions from 1955 to 1993, particularly the Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, the Douglas Hospital, and the Jewish General, Gloor conducted ground-breaking electrophysiological studies on the amygdala, hippocampus, and the mechanism of generalized epilepsy with spike-and-wave discharges.

His research included investigating the amygdala, electrophysiological studies of the hippocampus, the phenomenon of generalized epilepsy, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and physical manifestations of temporal lobe seizures.

Alongside his research, Gloor contributed to scholarship and the dissemination of knowledge as an administrator at the MNI/MNH and professor at McGill University School of Medicine. From 1957 to 1968 Gloor worked as an Assistant and subsequently Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. From 1968 to 1993 he was Full Professor of Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology. In 1965 Gloor was appointed Assistant Director of Research at the MNI and in 1984 as Senior Electroencephalographer at the MNH.
Gloor was also a member of various scientific societies such as the Swiss Association for Electroencephalography, the Montreal Physiological League, and the Canadian League Against Epilepsy, among others. In 1994 Gloor was awarded the Milliken Prize of the American Epilepsy Society for his seminal contribution to basic and clinical research in epilepsy.