BS in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now NMSU) in 1939, MA in Electronics Engineering from Leland Stanford, Jr. University (LSJU) in 1947, and degree in Electronics Engineering from Leland Stanford, Jr. University (LSJU) in 1947.
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Earl is the third son of pioneering NMSC A&MA (NMSU) Dean Ralph Willis Goddard. Earl Gascoigne Goddard was born in Mesilla Park and grew up in Las Cruces . He attended Mesilla Park Grammar School , Las Cruces Union High School and NMSC A&MA (NMSU).
Following graduation from NMSU (With Honors), he enrolled in graduate school at Leland Stanford, Jr. University, Palo Alto , California . Thus began a busy and varied professional career spanning a period of five decades and three related but different professional fields: Academic, Military, and Engineering, as well as ancillary activity in community, historical radio, yachting, music, family genealogy and environmental concerns.
The early 1940's were turbulent times for young men embarking upon their professional careers. For Earl, two years as an Instructor in Electrical Engineering and Electronics at Rice Institute (University) in Houston, Texas, were followed by four + years on active duty as a Naval Reserve Mine Warfare Officer at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory and in the Southwest Pacific Area and as an Instructor of Communications Engineering at the US Naval Postgraduate School. The GI Bill made possible the completion of interrupted graduate studies at Stanford, after which a year at Duke University preceded his return as a civilian faculty member to the US Naval Postgraduate School in Anapolis, Maryland, and Monterey, California, to teach advanced communications systems, radio navigation and electronic countermeasures systems from 1948-1955.
Another shift from Academia came in 1955 when he joined the Radio Systems Group at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park , California , as a Senior Research Engineer specializing in electronic navigation systems until 1960. The next eighteen years were devoted to a variety of assignments that included field engineer training program, ultrasonic instrument development, and electronic warfare systems research, design, and development. Over the years he wrote and published frequently in his field. He was active in the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), that merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to become the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He served the San Francisco Section from 1956-1973 as Secretary, Vice Chairman, Chairman, Member of Executive Committee, Chairman of Section Historical Committee and
San Francisco Section member of IRE 7 th Regional Committee.
For the next five years, Goddard was a Senior Research Engineer at Stanford Research Institute. He has been associated with a number of corporations in the electronics industry of the Silicon Valley , including Varian Associates, Hewlett-Packard, Itek, and Textron Corporations.
Earl Goddard retired in 1978 from Applied Technology, now a division of Litton Industries, where he was involved in airborne recording and radar warning systems design and development. Since his retirement his interests have shifted significantly as he has pursued sailing, music, family genealogy, serving on advisory boards, traveling and visiting family and friends - around the world.
In 1984, his contributions in engineering and his activity in the history of radio and electronics were recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' with the Institute's Centennial Award. He is the author of many technical publications, a member of professional and civic organizations and was a principal in the establishment of the Foothill Electronics Museum at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills , California, serving on the Board of Directors from 1959 - 1975. During this time he was President of the Board 1963-1965 and 1967-1974. He served on the IEEE Historical Committee from 1967-1971. Goddard has maintained close ties with NMSU and has contributed valuable material to the University Archives. In 1988, he was recognized as one of the 100 Outstanding Alumni of the College of Engineering during NMSU's centennial celebration.
Earl Goddard established the Goddard Centennial Memorial Scholarship, a permanent endowment whose earning provide an annual scholarship to an undergraduate studying engineering. Previously, Goddard had given gifts to the College of Engineering computer lab, had established a memorial scholarship in the name of his older brother Kenneth Ralph Goddard, and had donated Dean Goddard's books and pioneering radio equipment to the NMSU Archives.
