Bennett Goldberg
Faculty Director, Northwestern University Program Evaluation Core
Bennett B Goldberg (BA'82, MS'84, PhD'87) was born in Boston, MA in 1959, and is a life-long Red Sox fan. He received a B.A from Harvard College in 1982, and an M.S. and PhD in Physics from Brown University in 1984 and 1987. He held a Bantrell Postdoctoral appointment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Francis Bitter National Magnet Lab from 1986-1989 and joined the physics faculty at Boston University in 1989. Goldberg is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a United Methodist Teacher/Scholar of the Year, has been awarded a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and is a recipient of the Presidential Young Investigators Award.
Goldberg joined Northwestern University in August 2016 as the Director of the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, Assistant Provost for Learning and Teaching, and Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Goldberg built the Searle Center into a research-practice partnership center with 23 staff that annually serve 500 faculty, 600 graduate students and postdocs in their development into reflective practitioners of student-centered learning, as well as provide peer-guided academic support for 4000 undergraduates. At Northwestern, Goldberg led university-wide programs in assessment, curriculum reinvention and renewal, digital learning, learning analytics and the design and creation of innovative learning spaces. He represented Northwestern in learning and teaching as part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, AAU STEM, and until recently on the leadership committee of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning network of 41 universities preparing future faculty.
At the Searle Center Goldberg developed numerous funded projects that play a leading role in national and international teaching innovation and scholarship. Goldberg has helped build a network of universities preparing future faculty to be excellent researchers and excellent teachers, has co-authored two massive open online courses (MOOCs) for PhDs and postdocs on STEM learning and teaching, is co-creator of the Postdoc Academy, a national initiative to advance strategic and career skills of postdocs, and is involved in bringing together cross-sector organizations across the nation and internationally to scale effective strategies for increasing access to higher education for underrepresented groups. Goldberg leads an NSF project to develop and deliver inclusive pedagogy for STEM instructors nationwide, improving access to and success in STEM for marginalized and minoritized students.
In fall 2020, Goldberg transitioned to a new unit in the Office for Research, as Director of Research in Higher Education, Training and Evaluation, where he continues to partner across Northwestern and nationally in support of inclusive educational and research innovations that seek to advance equity in higher education.
Prior to Northwestern, Goldberg became a Professor of Physics, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Education, and Professor of Graduate Medical Sciences at Boston University. He was chair of the Physics Department for four years, Director and founder of Boston University's Center for Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnology for ten years, and Director and founder of BU’s nanomedicine program. Goldberg was the inaugural Director of STEM Education Initiatives in the Office of the Provost.
Goldberg’s research interests are in the areas of nano-optics and spectroscopy of two-dimensional crystals, exploring strain and friction in single-atom-thick layers. He is engaged in projects in near-field and solid immersion imaging, using super-resolution techniques to explore beyond the diffraction limit, and imaging through strongly scattering media like tissue and rock; and active research on novel approaches to subcellular imaging, biosensors, and single-virus imaging.