Goodman, Joseph W.
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Joseph W. Goodman, the William Ayer Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering, discusses his career at Stanford’s School of Engineering, narrating his progression from graduate student in 1958 to faculty and on to department chair, associate dean, and, briefly in 1999, acting dean. In addition to discussing his research, teaching, and administrative career, he touches on his experiences during the anti-Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s, his involvement with Stanford’s remote learning program, and his forays into industry. Interviewer, Andy DiPaolo, who succeeded Goodman in the position of senior associate dean of the School of Engineering, begins with a summary of Goodman’s career, including quotes he collected from colleagues and former students. Goodman begins by recounting his early interest in ham radio and his undergraduate education at Harvard, where he was exposed to the arts in addition to the sciences. He explains his decision to pursue a graduate degree at Stanford where he did his research at the Applied Electronics Laboratory. Goodman touches on his postdoctoral fellowship in Norway and explains how a positive recommendation from faculty member Ralph Smith and a change of his research focus from radar countermeasures to modern optics, specifically holography, led to his appointment in Stanford’s Electrical Engineering Department. He recalls the impact of the anti-Vietnam War protests at Stanford, including how the department instituted night watches fearing that the Electronics Research Laboratory would be set on fire. Goodman recounts sabbatical experiences in Paris and Sydney and reminiscences about Ellen Ochoa and Kristina Johnson, two highly successful graduate students whom he advised. He traces Ochoa’s path to become an astronaut, and touches on the many interests and pursuits of Johnson, currently chancellor of the State University of New York. Goodman speaks about his involvement in the Stanford Instructional Television Network and how this program, along with the internet, spurred Stanford to create the first online graduate engineering degree. He describes how, when he was chair of Electrical Engineering, income from remote instruction was channeled into an endowment for the department. As chair, Goodman was part of the search committee charged with selecting President Donald Kennedy’s successor, and he recounts the secrecy that he and the rest of the committee had to employ to keep the press in the dark. He recalls the merger of three departments to form the Department of Management Science and Engineering and gives his impressions of Engineering School deans with whom he worked. In addition to academics, Goodman discusses his philosophy and personal experiences forming companies and working with industry while holding down a faculty appointment. He also describes his family’s philanthropic work and the various engineering books he has written.
Description
Type of resource | mixed material |
---|---|
Date created | August 16, 2017 |
Creators/Contributors
Author | Goodman, Joseph W. | |
---|---|---|
Contributing author | DiPaolo, Andy | |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
Subject | Joseph Goodman |
---|---|
Subject | Stanford Historical Society |
Subject | oral histories |
Subject | interviews |
Subject | higher education |
Subject | professors |
Subject | electrical engineering |
Subject | school of engineering |
Subject | Vietnam War protests |
Subject | Stanford Instructional Television Network |
Bibliographic information
Related item |
|
---|---|
Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/dk684hz8075 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
Goodman, Joseph W. (2017).
Oral History. Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program Interviews (SC0932).
Department of Special Collections & University Archives, Stanford Libraries, Stanford,
Calif. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/dk684hz8075
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksContact information
- Contact
- universityarchives@stanford.edu
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...