Sol Howard Goodgal, a professor emeritus of microbiology and medicine in the
Perelman School of Medicine, died on September 8. He was 103.

Dr. Goodgal was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating from the University of Baltimore with a BA in biochemistry, he served for two years in the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe during World War II. After the war, Dr. Goodgal completed his PhD in biochemistry from John Hopkins University.

Dr. Goodgal joined Penn’s faculty in 1961 as an associate professor of microbiology in the School of Medicine, where he researched the applications of RNA and DNA on infectious diseases and taught a renowned freshman seminar titled Philosophy Problems in Modern Biology. In 1971, he was promoted to full professor. He received several University Research Foundation grants for projects like “Studies of Genetic Controls of Light Sensory Response of Phycomyces” (1972), “Studies on Transformation in Haemophilus Influenzae” (1974), and “Transformation in Haemophilus” (1990). Throughout his tenure at Penn, Dr. Goodgal also chaired the Faculty Senate Faculty Grievance Committee and served as vice chair of its Committee on Open Expression. He retired in 1991 and took emeritus status; he continued to teach until 2002. 

Dr. Goodgal is survived by his son, Charles (Chuck) Goodgal; his daughter-in-law, Nita Silverman Goodgal; and his grandchildren, Matt Goodgal, Julia Salem, Rachel Goodgal and her husband Stephen Budinsky. 

Donations in his memory can be made to the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center Fund (https://giving.apps.upenn.edu/fund?program=MED&fund=603702).