Joseph Goldstein

1939 - 2015

AMHERST - Joseph Goldstein of Amherst, passed away at home Saturday, June 27, 2015.

He was born Jan. 6, 1939, in Syracuse, New York. He obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees and his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960, 1962 and 1964, respectively. Following completion of his doctorate, he worked for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, until 1968, when he became a professor of metallurgy and materials science at Lehigh University. Dr. Goldstein was a professor at Lehigh from 1968 to 1993. From 1983 to 1990 at Lehigh, he was also the university's vice president for research.

From 1993 to 2004, he was the dean of engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After ending his term as dean, he remained on the UMass faculty until retiring in 2014.

Dr. Goldstein provided research and teaching leadership for over 20 years as vice president for research at Lehigh and as dean of engineering at UMass. He led the development of several major research and applied research centers including two NSF engineering research centers and a Ben Franklin center at Lehigh University, and an improved undergraduate engineering curriculum at UMass. In addition, he played a major role in increasing diversity in the College of Engineering at UMass.

Dr. Goldstein received many awards during his career, including the Presidential Science Award of the Microbeam Analysis Society in 1991; the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society in 2005 for outstanding contributions to the science of meteoritics and closely allied fields; and the Chancellor's Medal at UMass in 2007. In 2000, an asteroid was named Joegoldstein in honor of his research work. In 2015, the Microbeam Analysis Society and the Meteoritical Society together established an early career development award in honor of Dr. Goldstein "to recognize his exceptional contributions to training multiple generations of microanalytic experts."

Dr. Goldstein was an active member of Congregation B'nai Israel of Northampton, where he served on the board of directors. He was also on the board at UMass Hillel and sang in Mak'hela, the Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts.

Dr. Goldstein is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara; his daughter, Anne Goldstein-Factor; and his grandchildren, Sophie and Dov.

Donations in Dr. Goldstein's memory can be sent to Congregation B'nai Israel, 253 Prospect St., Northampton, MA 01060; the Meteoritical Society, care of Candace Kohl, 294 Torrey Pines Terrace, Del Mar, CA 92014; or the ALS Association, www.alsa.org.

The Ascher-Zimmerman Funeral Home is helping the family.

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