Adept in the field of technical management, Mary L. Good, PhD, has served as a managing member of the Fund for Arkansas since 2005. She began her professional career as an instructor at Arkansas State Teachers College, now known as the University of Central Arkansas (UCA), in Conway in 1949, later transferring to Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge where she moved up the ranks to assistant professor between 1954 and 1958. She then served from an associate professor to Boyd professor at the University of New Orleans from 1958 to 1978 before returning to LSU as Boyd professor from 1978 to 1980. Leaving her vocation in education, Dr. Good joined Reserve R. UOP Inc., as vice president and director from 1980 to 1983 and served Signal Research Center Inc., as president from 1983 to 1985. Following this, she was president of the Engineered Materials Research Division of Allied-Signal Inc., in Des Plaines, Illinois, for one year and senior vice president of technology of the company’s Morristown, New Jersey, office from 1987 to 1993. She went on to serve as undersecretary of commerce for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1993 to 1997, managing member of Venture Capital Investors LLC from 1997 to 2005, among other roles.
In addition to this tenure, Dr. Good served in the medicinal chemistry section of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation (NSF) chemistry section from 1972 to 1976, as well as served the Office of U.S. Air Force Research from 1974 to 1978. She then chaired the President’s Committee for National Medal Science from 1979 to 1982 and served in the Chemist Division of the Brookhaven and Oak Ridge National Laboratories from 1973 to 1983. Moving forward, Dr. Good found success with the National Research Council (NRC) on its industry roundtable from 2000 to 2005 and the St. Vincent’s health board of chemical science and technology from 2003 to 2004. She further served on the board of directors of Biogenldec, Inc., from 1997 to 2007, the dialogue committee of the American Chemical Council from 2002 to 2005, and the Delta Bank and Trust of Acxiom Inc. from 2004 to 2010, among others.
Prior to the start of her career, Dr. Good pursued a formal education at UCA, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1950. She then matriculated at the University of Arkansas, where she attained a Master of Science in 1953 and a PhD in 1955. From this point on, Dr. Good was the recipient of 25 honorary doctorates from numerous universities nationwide including the University of Illinois at Chicago, Duke University, the University of South Carolina, the Newcomb College of Tulane University, the College of William and Mary, Rensselaer Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan and the Colorado School of Mines, among many others.
Active in her local community, Dr. Good served the National Science Board as member from 1980 to 1991, vice chair from 1984 to 1988 and chair from 1988 to 1991. Additionally, she has contributed myriad articles to professional journals in her field. An honorary member of Iota Sigma Pi in 1983, Dr. Good also maintains involvement with other organizations such as the Alliance for Science and Technology Research in America and the American Chemical Society. Her previous memberships include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Zonta, the International Amelia Earhart Scholarship Committee and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, among several others.
The recipient of multiple honors and accolades throughout her career, Dr. Good was most recently named among the 100 Women Leaders in STEM and awarded the STEM Leadership Award by the U.S. News and World Report in 2012. Moreover, she was a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and was selected for inclusion in the 72nd edition of Who’s Who in America.
