BY JULIE JASKOL
UCLA Today
For Bill Goodin, life is a banquet.
The Pilipino Alumni Association Annual Banquet.
The National Society of Black Engineers Annual Banquet. The
Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists Annual Banquet. And
the list goes on. As Engineering Alumni Association liaison
to student groups, Bill Goodin faithfully attends them all,
as well as countless meetings, receptions and other events.
For Goodin, it’s all in a day’s
work — a day that also includes his demanding role as
director of UCLA Extension’s Short Course and Technical
Management Program, which provides more than 100 professional
education courses each year all over the world. It’s an
impressive portfolio, but Goodin still manages to spend hours
every week working with the UCLA Engineering Alumni Association.
Even seasoned alumni are impressed with the
amount of time and energy Goodin finds to contribute. “What
can I say about Bill, beyond ‘Wow. Fantastic. Unbelievable’?”
said UCLA Alumni Association President Eric Juline.
Goodin is more low-key about his volunteerism.
“It’s just my way of giving back.”
He came to UCLA in 1969 as a graduate student,
earning an M.S. in 1971, a Ph.D. in 1975 and a second master’s
in 1982, all in mechanical engineering. “Those were good
years,” he recalled. In fact, he still has his student
ID card, showing waist-length hair, a luxuriant mustache and
a big smile.
Goodin came to work at UCLA Extension in 1983
and promptly immersed himself in campus life again — this
time as an alumnus. There was no Engineering Alumni Association,
so Goodin helped develop one and served as its founding president
from 1998-2002. When he stepped down last year, he was asked
to take on a new role as alumni liaison to student groups. That’s
when the banquet circuit really heated up.
“Bill is everywhere,” marveled
third-year student Paggy Wu, co-president of the Society of
Women Engineers. “He’s like a father figure, always
watching out for us.”
Samarth Pal, a fourth-year student and president
of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, agrees. “He
gives us a perspective we wouldn’t have otherwise,”
said Pal. “Alumni can offer a lot of help to students
with networking and advice.”
Juline recently appointed Goodin the first
alumni academic ambassador for the UCLA Alumni Association so
he can broaden his work to benefit the campus as a whole. “Bill’s
really a role model in helping us develop alumni relationships
with faculty and students,” said Juline.
Goodin maintains that he gets more from his
involvement than he gives. “I enjoy working with the students
and making connections with alumni who can help them.”
Even if it means eating a lot of rubber chicken.
