Her legacy of kindness benefits MD-PhD students

It was totally in character for Kathie Goodman, AB ’64, MD ’68, PhD, to give back: as a literacy volunteer, a reading tutor for adults, and a supporter of the arts. So it should come as no surprise that she specified in her will that a generous gift be made to establish the J. Kathleen Greenacre Goodman Scholarship at Harvard Medical School. This fund will support students in the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program, which aims to train the next generation of premier and diverse physician-scientist leaders.

“We are so grateful for Dr. Goodman’s generosity and vision in supporting this multitalented and supremely dedicated cohort of students who integrate clinical medicine and a broad spectrum of basic and social sciences to make a difference for patients today and into the future,” said Loren Walensky, MD, PhD, director of the program and an HMS professor of pediatrics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Goodman died March 25, 2022, at age 79. She graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1964 and with honors from HMS in 1968. She completed post-graduate training and earned a doctorate in clinical pharmacology from the University of London. She worked at St. Albans City Hospital and was a member of the Royal College of Physicians.

Goodman’s medical specialties included clinical pharmacology and pulmonary disease treatment. She worked as a pulmonary physician in Philadelphia, serving on several medical boards and committees, and held several faculty positions in medical schools at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. She was also recognized for her editorial positions and numerous pulmonology and pharmacology research publications. Her final position, before retiring in 2002, was staff physician for Student Health Services at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.