Kenneth Goodson

Ken Goodson specializes in heat transfer and energy conversion with applications to electric vehicles, data centers, and portable electronic devices. He has mentored 55+ Stanford graduate students to their doctoral degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Materials Science, including dozens who are now professors at institutions including MIT, Princeton, and Stanford. Under the DARPA ICECool Programs, his students developed a world-record heat sink for power conversion.

While serving as Mechanical Engineering Chair & Vice Chair (2008-2019), Goodson led two strategic plans and recruited 15 faculty who transformed the department's scholarship and diversity. Before starting as Stanford's Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs in 2025, he served as Senior Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Affairs in the School of Engineering.

Goodson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and received the Aristotle Award for graduate student mentorship from the Semiconductor Research Corporation. He has 35 patents and is a Fellow with the National Academy of Inventors. He co-founded Cooligy, which built heat sinks for Apple and was acquired by Emerson. Goodson is a Fellow with AAAS, ASME, IEEE, and APS. He received the ASME Kraus Medal and Memorial Award, the IEEE Richard Chu Award, and the AIChE Kern Award.

Goodson moonlights as a baritone oratorio soloist with appearances at Davies Symphony Hall and the Bing Concert Hall. He held voice fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Festival and received the Sudler Prize for Arts Achievement. His wife, Laura Dahl, is a concert pianist with the Stanford music faculty.