Santa Clara University

Lester F. Goodchild
Dean, School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries

Dr. Goodchild is Dean of the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries and Professor of Education. The School offers master’s degrees and professional certification in education, counseling, health and human services, and pastoral ministry.

Prior to coming to Santa Clara, Dr. Goodchild was Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Professor of Higher Education. He also served as Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Education at the University of Denver; Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Iowa State University; and Director of Suburban Campuses at DePaul University in Chicago. In addition, Dr. Goodchild has been a visiting professor or scholar at Penn State University, Boston College, and the University of California, Berkeley.

His specialty is the study of higher education, with emphasis on its history, public policy, administration, and professional ethics. He has co-edited four books, and his other 43 refereed articles, book chapters, book reviews, and professional publications focus on the history of American higher education, education and higher education as fields of study, and Catholic higher education.

Dr. Goodchild has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; a M.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University; a M.Div. from St. Meinrad School of Theology in southern Indiana; and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His Ph.D. dissertation explored the rise of American Catholic universities and their respective Catholic characters from 1842 to 1980 in a comparative study of the University of Notre Dame, Loyola University Chicago, and DePaul University.

Phone: (408) 551-7069
E-mail: LGoodchild@scu.edu