In Memoriam: Faculty & Staff
William Goldsmith
William Goldsmith of Vineyard Haven, Mass., an expert on the presidency and American political thought who taught at Brandeis from 1960 to 1984, died on March 23. He was 90. A founding member of the interdisciplinary department in American studies, he also helped found the Transitional Year Program at Brandeis and created the Brandeis Papers Commission, a permanent repository for the papers of Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Before joining the faculty, he worked in the labor movement in the 1940s and ’50s. His three-volume study, “The Growth of Presidential Power,” was published in 1974 and is still considered by many to be the definitive work in its field. He leaves his wife of 50 years, Marianne; two daughters, Suzanne and Alexandra; a son, Michael; and five grandchildren. Gifts in his memory may be made to the William Goldsmith Endowed Scholarship at Brandeis; for more information, contact Julie Smith-Bartoloni at jsbart@brandeis.edu or 781-736-4045.