Karina Gonzalez
Dr. Isidore “Izzy” Goodman, who is currently chair of the chemistry department, enters his twenty-forth year of teaching at Pierce this fall.
Last April, the faculty here at Pierce College had their annual nominations for this year’s Professor of the Year award; one of those nominated was Dr. Goodman.
It was soon announced that he was, indeed, the winner of this prestigious award.
“This was my first time winning the Professor of the Year award during my time teaching here,” said Goodman. “It was a wonderful honor to be appreciated and recognized by my colleagues.”
In his time here at Pierce, the 53-year-old professor has dedicated many years to working in the chemistry department, teaching classes such as introductory chemistry, general chemistry and biochemistry. Outside of teaching, he has also been a fundamental part of the academic structure in the college, holding his seat as vice president of the academic senate for a number of years, as well as academic senate president during the fall of 2006.
Kathy Oborn, chair of the Professional Growth and Development Committee, couldn’t agree more that Goodman was an excellent choice for this year’s award.
“He really cares about the students and the campus and utilizes all the resources here at Pierce,” Oborn said. “He’s very much a part of the culture of the college.”
Dr. Goodman has shared a passion for science ever since his early days living in New York City. After graduating high school, he attended the State University of New York at Albany and earned his bachelor’s degree with a major in mathematics and minors in both chemistry and biology.
Upon graduating from Albany, he applied to several schools to pursue his master’s degree, one of which was UCLA. When he got accepted there, he left the East Coast and made a move to Los Angeles.
During his time at UCLA, he served as a teaching assistant for chemistry classes and labs as a graduate student. It was there he discovered a deep love for teaching.
In his last year of graduate school, he taught part time in the chemistry department at California State University, Long Beach.
After earning a doctorate in biochemistry at UCLA in 1981, Dr. Goodman went on to a Lectureship position at Long Beach, a three-year position during which he taught courses he would eventually teach here at Pierce. He joined the faculty of Pierce in 1984 and has remained here ever since.
Aside from his busy professional life and other commitments here at the school, Dr. Goodman happens to be very active in sports. He enjoys playing basketball, swimming and the art of photography. He is married and loves traveling with his wife, Perri.
Over the course of the fall semester, Dr.Goodman will continue serving on the Educational Planning Committee as well as the Student Success Committee at the college.