Bob Goodman is University Professor and Executive Dean Emeritus (Agriculture and Natural Resources) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He studied at Johns Hopkins University and earned the BS degree at Cornell University (1967), where he also completed the Ph.D. in 1973. After postdoctoral work in the UK, Dr. Goodman served on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, headed research and development at Calgene Inc., and served as professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He came to Rutgers in 2005 and completed 15 years as Executive Dean of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and Executive Director of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 2020. Dr. Goodman’s research contributions include early studies elucidating what is now called virus-induced gene silencing, the discovery and characterization of the single-stranded circular DNA viruses now called geminiviruses, and foundational studies establishing the field now called metagenomics. Goodman’s professional work has also included extensive service to global agriculture.