News and Events William T. Golden (1909-2007) by Dr. William SchusterAll of us associated with the Black Rock Forest mourn the loss of the founder of our Consortium. A truly great man and the most wonderful of friends, William T. Golden died on October 7, 2007, at age 97, peacefully and with his family at his side. Bill Golden's life was marked by remarkable ideas and their bountiful results. One idea was "to make a lot of money on Wall Street and then do interesting things." We are fortunate that Black Rock was one of those "interesting" things! In 1989, Bill purchased the Black Rock Forest and established the original Consortium of 15 institutions. Since then, more han 400 publications, including 25 masters and doctoral theses, have been produced from research at the Forest. Consortium membership has grown to 21 organizations, and education programs now serve more than 10,000 students per year. Bill also meant a great deal to much of the rest of the world. For almost 60 years,he played a unique and pivotal role at the intersection of science and society. He served as a board member or trustee of nearly 100 organizations, among them the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Museum of Natural History. In 1950, Bill was appointed to make recommendations to President Harry S. Truman about science and technology advice to the government. "I got the the idea that there should be a science adviser to the president," Bill recalled. "Truman approved the plan immediately." As assistant to a commisioner of the Atomic Energy Commision, he was sent to listen to Albert Einstein's ideas about the role of world government in heading off nuclear war. As co-chair of the Arnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government, he initiataed a series of twice-yearly meetings of science advisers from the G7 nations, and was the only private citizen invited to attend. He was a major influence during the formation of the National Science Foundation and won a 30-year campaign to install a science adviser in the State Department. At age 70, Bill earned a Master's degree in biological sciences from Columbia University. Bill was a man of insight and wisdom, great warmth, outstanding wit and humor, and rock-solid commitment. We were blessed by his presence at every Black Rock Board meeing and every Consortium Day. He said "I just liked to tinker with things and hope that it would be useful." The hundreds of thousands of people who have enjoyed Black Rock Forest and benefitted from its programs certainly have found his "tinkering" to be useful indeed. The Forest is a living tribute to Bill's magical abilities and extraordinary ideas for the advancement of science and society. We deeply miss having Bill with us. But his memory will always be with us as work to extend one of his many, great legacies in the Black Rock Forest.
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