Goode gift benefits students

Esteemed economist's estate provides $7 million for Baylor scholarships

On Aug. 14, Baylor announced a gift in excess of $7 million from the estate of esteemed economist, educator and civil servant Dr. Richard Benjamin Goode, BA '37, which primarily will benefit the Richard and Liesel Goode Endowed Academic Scholarship Fund.

"As we have often said during this time of dedicated focus on raising support for Baylor students, endowed scholarships are vital to the future of Baylor," said Baylor University President Ken Starr. "We are blessed by Dr. Goode's kindness toward our university. Generations of Baylor students will be blessed by his generosity, and his legacy will live on through this magnificent gift."

A Baylor alumnus, Goode passed away on July 18, 2010, at the age of 93. Goode will be remembered not only for his extraordinary career and significant contributions to the field of economics but also for his generous philanthropic spirit and his deep loyalty to Baylor University and her students.

"Dr. Goode's legacy is one of opportunity," said Bill Dube, BA '68, MBA '72, director of Baylor's Endowed Scholarship Program. "He once shared with me that his life would have looked completely different if he had not had the opportunity to attend Baylor through scholarship support. We are extremely grateful for this gift and for the foresight Dr. Goode had in giving countless students that same opportunity to share the Baylor experience he so cherished."

Throughout his life, Goode championed education and made provisions for Baylor students to pursue their dreams.

"Education empowered him to fulfill a career bigger than his rural Texas upbringing would have indicated," said Susan Wommack, JD '89, gift planning legal counsel at Baylor. "He wanted to provide others with that opportunity. He would often get emotional talking about his scholarship students. He knew what he wanted his final legacy to be, and his support of students and The President's Scholarship Initiative is so meaningful."

Born in Fort Worth, Goode was the only member of his immediate family to earn a college degree -- doing so during the Great Depression. After graduating from Baylor with his bachelor of arts degree in economics in 1937, he went on to earn a master of arts degree at Kentucky State University in 1939 and a doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1947.

During his distinguished career, Goode served as an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Budget and taught as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago. He was pivotal in the formation of the International Monetary Fund, where he was asked to serve as the first director of the Fiscal Affairs Department when it was established in 1965.

Well known and revered as an expert in his field, Goode served as consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department, the United Nations and the Brookings Institution, where he also was a guest scholar. He filled the role of professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins University for seven years before retiring in 1988. Goode authored several books and published many articles on topics ranging from the U.S. income tax system to financial assistance in developing countries.

In 1997, Goode was awarded the Daniel M. Holland Medal for contributions to the study and practice of public finance.

Motivated by gratefulness for the scholarship support he received as a student and the role Baylor professors played in preparing him for his career, Goode, along with his wife, Liesel, established an endowed scholarship fund at Baylor in 1999.

Todd Radin, BBA '12, received the Richard and Liesel Goode Endowed Academic Scholarship as a student and likely would have been unable to attend Baylor University without financial aid.

"It means so much that he was willing to help another person attend Baylor," Radin said. "Without his help, it might not have happened. It has blessed my family so much that I cannot truly express how much it means to us."

Through the estate gift, the Richard and Liesel Goode Endowed Academic Scholarship Fund will benefit worthy Baylor students across disciplines in perpetuity.

For more information about supporting Baylor through a planned gift, please contact Larry Smith, assistant vice president for gift planning at Baylor, at (254) 710-2561 or Larry_Smith@baylor.edu.

President Ken Starr's call to raise $100 million in scholarship support gained momentum in recent days as several significant gifts pushed the total to more than $62 million.

Since its launch in 2010, the initiative has united Baylor Nation in support of our students. Gifts large and small from more than 7,200 donors have combined to reach this total.

Every gift translates to long-term financial support for Baylor students, and every gift is a meaningful way to show support for Baylor and her distinct mission.