On Friday, February 15, 2019, Eugene P. Goldberg passed away at home in Tavares, Florida; he was 90 years old. Gene was born on November 11, 1928 in Southampton, NY to George and Sarah (Harrison) Goldberg. In 1950, he married Frances Blaustein and, together, they raised three sons (Earl, Joel, and Kenneth). Following Frances's death in 1995, he married Lehua Fernandez, who died in 2011.

After earning his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University, he went on to distinguished careers in industry (22 years) and in academia (37 years). Gene's curiosity, quest for knowledge, and desire to enhance the health and well-being of others fueled his decades of fundamental and applied research in industrial and academic laboratories. As a research chemist at General Electric in the 1950s, he was a co-inventor of Lexan™ polycarbonate, served as Associate Director of the Borg-Warner Research Center in the 1960s, and then spent nearly a decade as Director of Xerox's Chemistry Research Laboratory in Webster, NY. In 1975 he joined the University of Florida faculty as the Biomedical Engineering Program of Distinction Professor, helping establish one of the first academic Biomaterials programs, which remains one of the top 2-3 programs of its kind in the nation.

Over his prolific research career, he was awarded more than 100 U.S. and foreign patents and published more than 300 technical peer-reviewed papers, books, and chapters in organic and polymer chemistry, and biomedical materials science. He loved teaching and mentoring students both in the classroom and in the laboratory and was recognized by the National Science Foundation as a faculty mentor for minority graduate students. During his time at the University of Florida, he graduated more than 50 Ph.D. and M.S. students and spoke with great pride and admiration of their accomplishments.

His contributions have been recognized over the years by numerous awards and honors, including: Florida Scientist of the Year (1987), Brown University Distinguished Alumnus (1995), Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Applied Research (1998). He was named the Genzyme Professor for Biomaterials Science & Engineering (1999), and was a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2001) and the International College of Fellows for Biomaterials Science & Engineering (2008). He served on numerous science, engineering and biomedical advisory boards and more than a half-dozen technical journal editorial boards, and regularly testified as an expert witness concerning the safety of implanted biomaterials.

More details on his professional accomplishments can be found on the memorial website at the University of Florida's Department of Materials Science and Engineering: https://mse.ufl.edu/in-memory-of-dr-eugene-p-goldberg/

Gene loved to travel and was able to incorporate this into his professional career. He was an invited speaker at technical conferences around the world and held visiting appointments at academic and technical institutions in Israel, the U.S.S.R., and Japan. He valued greatly the cultural and scientific exchanges that resulted from his travels, and the many personal relationships (and scientific collaborations) that resulted.

He loved music, and treasured attending orchestral, choral, operatic, and ballet performances at venues around the world. He enjoyed listening to music at home, and initially resorted to building his own speakers and amplifiers in an attempt to recreate the vibrancy (and volume!) of the live concert performances he so loved. In later years, he discovered the recordings of live performances of his favorite orchestras and conductors on YouTube, and relished watching and listening (with headphones) to at least one such recorded performance each evening.

Gene was particularly fond of sailing, learning the ropes in the evenings on Lake Michigan in the mid-1960s. For decades, he dragged his family sailing on progressively larger sailboats, initially on Great Lakes Michigan and Ontario followed by the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. After moving to Florida, he enjoyed sailing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Miami. Along the way he learned to SCUBA dive and incorporated this into his world travels whenever possible.

Gene loved his family and was particularly proud of his seven grandchildren. Although they were scattered across the country in Missouri, Vermont, and New York, he encouraged and supported annual family gatherings in the summers so that they could all spend time together. These so-called Goldberg Family Reunions (GFR) continued until 2010, when it became difficult for Gene to travel due to health issues and family travel focused more on visiting him at his home in Florida.

Gene was preceded in death by his parents (George and Sarah Goldberg), his wives (Frances and Lehua Goldberg), and his oldest son (Earl Goldberg). He is survived by his sons Joel (Barbara Burroughs) and Kenneth (Ellen Lawson), his seven grandchildren (Angela, Eli, Steven, Rubin, Veronica, Nathan, and Benjamin), and his brother Harvey Gold (Shirley).

The family would also like to acknowledge the loving daily care and companionship provided by Ms. Gratia Jacob, who provided homecare for Lehua and, after her death, was the caretaker for "Dr. Goldberg" until his death. Her care and attention – and her family's love – played a critical role in Gene's longevity and to his enjoyment of life in his final years. Words cannot express how much Gratia's presence in Gene's life meant to us all.

Please join us in celebrating Gene's life at a memorial service and reception on Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Allen J. Harden Funeral Home, 1800 Donnelly St., Mount Dora, FL 32757.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Gene's memory may be made to the "Eugene P. Goldberg Lectureship Series Fund" c/o the University of Florida Foundation, in order to endow a lecture series in his honor. Uff.ufl.edu/give/goldberg