Dr. Marvin Goldman, professor emeritus of the school and a pioneering radiation biologist whose research helped establish international safety standards for radioactive materials, died July 20, 2026. He was born May 2, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York.

Goldman joined UC Davis in 1958 and spent three decades directing research into the long-term health effects of low-level exposure to strontium-90. He became director of the Davis Radiobiology Laboratory in 1973. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, he led a national team of 20 scientists that produced the first comprehensive report on the disaster’s global health and environmental impact.

For more than 40 years, Goldman also served as the lead biomedical expert on the White House’s Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel, helping safeguard plutonium-powered batteries used on missions including Voyager 1 and 2, Viking, the Curiosity Mars rover and New Horizons. His honors included the E.O. Lawrence Memorial Award and the Health Physics Society’s Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award.

Goldman was preceded in death by Joyce, his wife of 70 years. He is survived by his three children, David, Beth and Robert; their spouses; and seven grandchildren.

Read the full obituary in The Davis Enterprise