Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor Norman Goodman — a true Stony Brook University legend and member of the university’s founding generation — will be honored on Friday, Aug. 20 by the University Senate and the Department of Sociology.
The special Zoom event, from 4 pm to 5 pm, will commemorate Goodman’s retirement from active service and will include the official designation of the Senate Conference Room in Psychology B as the Norman Goodman Senate Conference Room.
Brief remarks will be provided by President Maurie McInnis, Provost Paul Goldbart, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Nicole Sampson, Sociology Chair Kathleen Fallon, and former SBU Senate Presidents Fred Walter, Ed Feldman and Nancy Tomes.
In addition, there will be an open-mic period, allowing Goodman to reflect on his 56 years as a Seawolf, and others to add their well-wishes or recollections of working or studying with him. Current and former Stony Brook University faculty, staff and administration, University Faculty Senate colleagues, SBU Sociology alumni and the Goodman family are expected to participate or attend, and the event will be recorded.
Admired not only for his dedication to his students and his field but also for his passion and advocacy, Goodman, a sociologically oriented social psychologist, was the first person in SUNY to be awarded two distinguished professorships. He was chair of the Department of Sociology for 20 years (from 1973 to 1989, and again from 2000 to 2004), president of the senate of the College of Arts and Sciences, twice president of the University Faculty Senate, served as vice president for the senate for three terms, and edited the SUNY University Senate Bulletin for more than 20 years.
Norman Goodman in 1964.
Goodman has said that he is particularly proud of his role in facilitating Stony Brook’s transition to a major, internationally renowned institution of higher education and being a major player in the effort to ensure that campus policies and practices are established through a process of shared governance.
Goodman is also the author/co-author/co-editor of 10 books, including four textbooks or readers in Introductory Sociology and two textbooks in Marriage and the Family.
Members of the SBU community are invited to send any photos they have of Goodman to sbu_university_senate@stonybrook.edu, and they may participate by joining the Zoom meeting, using meeting ID 968 5349 3561, and passcode 735180.
