Kenneth Goodson

Kenneth Goodson is the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs at Stanford University, holding the title of Davies Family Provostial Professor and courtesy Professor in Materials Science and Engineering. He previously served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department (2008-2019) and Senior Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Affairs in the School of Engineering. His research focuses on heat transfer and energy conversion, with applications in electric vehicles, data centers, and electronics cooling.

Dr. Goodson has mentored over 55 Stanford graduate students, many of whom now hold academic positions at top institutions like MIT and Princeton. His DARPA-funded ICECool Programs developed world-record heat sinks for power conversion. He leads the Stanford VPGE Research Lab and holds 35 patents, co-founding Cooligy (acquired by Emerson). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of multiple societies including AAAS, ASME, IEEE, and APS.

His awards include the ASME Kraus Medal, IEEE Richard Chu Award, and Sudler Prize for Arts Achievement. Beyond academia, he is a baritone soloist with voice fellowships at Tanglewood Music Festival and married to concert pianist Laura Dahl of Stanford's music faculty.

Education: PhD (1993), MS (1991), and BS in Mechanical Engineering (1989) from MIT, with a concurrent BS in Humanities (Phi Beta Kappa). His work spans thermal systems design, nanomaterials, and phase-change technologies, addressing extreme heat flux challenges in electronics and energy systems.