Richard Walter Goldman – 50th Reunion Essay

Richard Walter Goldman

Date of Death: 18-Oct-1989

College: Branford

(This remembrance was submitted to the August 2000 Class Notes by Susan Goldman, wife of Rick Goldman. The following paragraphs describe the mission and values of the Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation .)

I always read and enjoy the ’69 class notes, particularly since my husband, Rick Goldman, passed away more than ten years ago. It’s never occurred to me to write until I began noticing that frequently the notes carry news of classmates’ children who carry on the tradition at Yale. So I write with the thought that some of Rick’s Yale friends might be interested to know that the last of our three children, Alice, will enter the Class of ’04 in the fall, following her brothers, Dan ’98 and Bill ’01. We are sort of boring in this regard, but very happily so. Dan is an NBC Olympic researcher in New York, and Bill is taking this semester to study in Madrid. I can’t even imagine how proud and delighted Rick would be to know that all of his children have had the opportunity to thrive at the school he loved so much.

The Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation was founded in 2012 in loving memory of Richard Walter Goldman by his children: Daniel, William, and Alice. The Foundation promotes equality and reduces barriers to opportunity across generations for our nation’s most disadvantaged. It does this by increasing access to education, health, and financial resources for families during children’s early years.

Born in 1947, Rick Goldman relocated from California to the East Coast, ultimately settling in Washington, DC with his wife Susan and their children. He began a legal career in public service as an assistant United States attorney and then transitioned to private practice as a litigator, always maintaining an interest in and a concern for his community. In particular, Rick considered inequality, poverty, and criminal justice to be pressing societal issues, and he focused much of his philanthropic efforts in those areas. Throughout his life, he led by example, instilling in his children the values of generosity, kindness, and empathy, as well as a charitable spirit. The foundation is a tribute to his life and legacy.