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William T. Golden |
“We were on the deck of the ship wearing almost impenetrably dark glasses,” recalled Golden, now 95 years old, who had been serving in the Atomic Energy Commission at the time. “After they had the countdown and the bomb was detonated, we saw the brightness of 1,000 suns. It was unforgettably brilliant. Then we looked and saw the spread of the mushroom cloud. ‘What hath God wrought?’ came to mind.”
William T. Golden has been captivated by all things scientific throughout his life, from military weaponry to Presidential science policy to the quality of America’s medical schools and museums. A successful 10-year career on Wall Street earned him enough wealth and connections to robustly pursue that passion. He served in key scientific policy capacities for several U.S. Presidents and mayors, for big businesses and prestigious civic institutions, and for high-level government agencies. It was Golden who advised President Truman to create the post of Science Advisor to the President and the President’s Science Advisory Committee. The Golden touch has helped shape many institutions concerned with science in the United States.
“He’s a science groupie,” said Academy President Dr. Jeremiah A. Barondess, who has known Golden for more than 20 years and initially tapped him to become involved with the Academy. Golden has served on the Academy’s Development Committee since its 1998 inception. “I recognized Bill Golden as an enormous asset to his community, to science and to the juncture of science and medicine,” Barondess said.
Golden has had a knack for inserting himself into the science realm since he was a kid. He began by tinkering with household objects in early childhood. “I would take clocks apart. I wasn’t as successful in getting them back together, but I took them apart,” Golden laughed, during a recent interview in his 50th floor Midtown office. Shortly after his 13th birthday, he earned his ham radio license.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1930 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and English, and studying finance at Harvard Business School, he tried his hand on Wall Street with hopes of earning enough money to pursue his science dreams. His plan paid off. Golden got a job working as a securities analyst for Harold F. Linder, the head of a small industrial management firm, whom Golden had interviewed for a Harvard class assignment. The starting salary was $25 a week. “I had an analytical mind and strong motivation, and I proved to be pretty good at it,” Golden said.
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William T. Golden (far right), near Eniwetok in the Pacific where he attended an atomic test. |
Soon after the war ended and Golden retired as a Lieutenant Commander, a former military colleague phoned and asked him to serve as his assistant. The much older colleague was Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, a member of the newly formed five-man Atomic Energy Commission. “I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do,” Golden said. It was in this three-year post that Golden participated in the atomic bomb test and met many leaders in American science while gaining a reputation of his own at the nation’s highest seat of power – the White House.
After the Korean War broke out in 1950, President Truman tapped Golden to serve as a special consultant to advise him on the Government’s scientific activities as related to the war. Golden produced a report urging Truman to create the position of Science Advisor to the President, and defining the functions of the National Science Foundation. “Truman took my report home with him over the weekend, came in Monday morning and approved it,” Golden recalled. A framed letter that is signed, “Approved – Harry S. Truman” hangs on the wall of Golden’s 50th-floor office. Every president since Truman has had a Science Advisor.
In 1950, Golden opened an office on Wall Street (which he’s since relocated to Midtown) with two colleagues. He’d spend half of his time on personal investments and serving on the boards of businesses, and devote the rest to serving on the boards of science- and education-oriented non-profit organizations. “I had been successful enough to do that,” he said. Over the years he has served on the board of Mount Sinai Hospital and helped found its school of medicine, he was Chairman of the American Museum of Natural History, and he founded the Carnegie Group of Ministers of Science and Science Advisors to Heads of Government, a brain trust from the G-8 countries and the European Union that has met twice yearly since 1991. Golden also served as treasurer for 30 years of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the non-profit organization that publishes the weekly journal Science and is dedicated to advancing science around the world. Golden was influential in establishing the AAAS Congressional Science and Technology Fellows program nearly 30 years ago, funding the first two years from his own pocket. More than 1,500 scientists have since graduated from the program after a year working with Congressional staff on policy-making.
Golden has remained an inspiration into his later years, always striving to learn more even though he could easily rest on a lifetime of accomplishments. At age 70, he earned a Columbia University master’s degree in biological sciences “to get caught up in biology.” “I was interested in biology in college, and I wanted to know what happened in the last 20 or 30 years,” Golden explained.
Though he today uses a walker (a consequence of replaced hip and knee), Golden remains spry, still going to his office each day, lunching with friends, and serving on many boards and committees, including the Academy’s Development Committee. Members of the committee are working earnestly on the Capital Campaign to raise funds for a new building that will house the Academy’s growing research staff. Golden is seriously involved in this effort because he believes in the Academy’s pursuit of improved health for urban populations.
“Essentially, we’re all patients,” Golden said. “That includes me.”
