Arthur Goldberg

Arthur E. Goldberg (1924-2019) received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1952, seeking to become a professor of Chemistry. Offered an assistant professorship at his alma mater (Roosevelt University), he instead became a lab chemist at the University of Chicago.

A few years later he and a partner started a company making remote infrared thermometers and temperature controls for heavy industry – and thus worked with physics and optics. After initial struggles, Ircon, Inc. became the industry leader. Goldberg spent over three decades there as Vice President and product design scientist.

A child of the Great Depression and vet of World War II, Mr. Goldberg was grateful for the GI Bill which enabled his college education. Mindful of his working-class roots, and that Antisemitism might limit his opportunities, he sympathized with the poor and society’s underdogs.

Given his background, Mr. Goldberg’s spouse, Jacqueline and two of his sons, William and Kenneth, created this scholarship to assist dedicated, but financially struggling undergraduates in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics as an enduring tribute to their husband and father.