Necrology

Stephen J. Goldberg

Nov. 12, 2024

Associate Professor of Art History Emeritus Stephen J. Goldberg of Clinton, N.Y., died on Nov. 12, 2024. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he earned his bachelor’s degree at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, his master’s degree at the University of Hawai’i, and his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.

Steve joined the Hamilton faculty in 1998 following teaching posts at the University of Hawai’i, Stanford University, and the University of Denver. His research interests included globalization and “transcultural imagination,” as well as Chinese calligraphy, and during his time at Hamilton he taught the courses African American Art and the Black Experience; Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic Arts of India; the Arts of Zen Buddhism; and the Arts of Japan, among others.

The author of numerous essays, reviews, and articles, he served as a consultant for the PBS program Lost Treasures of Tibet (2003). He had chaired the Asian Studies Program and the Art and Art History Department, and served on the committee that planned Hamilton’s new arts facilities.

Students described Professor Goldberg as passionate, enthusiastic, extremely detailed and informative, kind, thoughtful, and a wonderful human being. One student said he had “a genuine passion for helping students reach their full potential,” and he took an “interest in [a] student’s educational experience at a holistic level.” A second student said, “Professor Goldberg’s passion for his subject was evident in every lecture and review session, and he worked his hardest to spread his enthusiasm for art to all of the class.” Added a third, “The way he teaches the coursework has not only educated me academically, but it’s also taught me how to be a better citizen, a better man...”

Steve Goldberg, who retired from Hamilton in 2020, is survived by his wife, Susan, a son, and three grandchildren.

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