Willard E. Goodwin: educator, innovator and pioneer.

Willard E. Goodwin was born to Willard and Olive (Belt) Goodwin on July 24, 1915 in Los Angeles, California and died on July 22, 1998, just 2 days short of his 83rd birthday (fig. 1). Willard and his younger brother by 8 years, Donald A. Goodwin, grew up in La Cañada, California, an area just outside of Pasadena in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where their nearest neighbors were nearly 1 mile away. Lacking neighborhood playmates, Goodwin developed a passion for the outdoors and books. Both interests were encouraged by his father, an avid outdoorsman and employee at Fowler Brothers Book (one of the earliest bookstores west of the Mississippi), and his mother, a collector of books. Goodwin started schooling in a 2 room school house in La Cañada. He finished at the top of his class and entered John Muir Technical High School in La Cañada in 1929. Goodwin’s mother was the elder sister of Dr. Elmer Belt, a distinguished urologist who later became a founder of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical School. Willard and Donald were heavily influenced by their uncle and it was this close relationship that led them to medicine and urology. Goodwin often said later in life that he knew he wanted to become a urologist since eighth grade. In high school Goodwin was active in the drama club, sports and Boy Scouts. He graduated in 1933 as valedictorian and student body president, and delivered his valedictory address on the virtues of world peace at the Rose Bowl. Since private university was beyond the family means, Goodwin chose the University of California at Berkeley for his undergraduate education.