Spending her time as a youth picking up snakes and other reptiles in her yard, Nancy L. Goodyear, EdD, was inspired to go into her profession by her high school biology teacher, Ms. Formby. Thus, she grew up always loving nature and animals. She began her career as a secondary teacher on the foreign mission board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Richmond, Virginia, in 1969, remaining in this position for two years before serving as a secondary science teacher within Pine Bluff School Systems in Arkansas from 1971 to 1976. She then joined Bainbridge College in Georgia as a biology professor from 1976 to 2001. In addition to this long tenure, Dr. Goodyear taught adjunctively at a number of other colleges including Tallahassee Community College, Cosumnes River College, Napa Valley College, San Joaquin Delta College, Solano Community College and North Georgia College and State University, now known as the University of North Georgia. She was also a faculty member on the e-core team that wrote an environmental science in 2000, a program that was sponsored by the University System of Georgia.
Prior to the start of her career, Dr. Goodyear pursued a formal education at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Arts in biology in 1967. She then matriculated at the University of Wisconsin, where she received a Master of Science in bacteriology in 1969. She went on to obtain an EdD in science education from Auburn University in Alabama in 1976. Since graduating with these academic honors, Dr. Goodyear has excelled beyond her post as an educator at Bainbridge College, sponsoring and directing a regional science fair at the college.
A prolific writer, Dr. Goodyear has contributed myriad articles to a wide array of professional journals. She wrote “The Use of a Regional Science Fair to Generate an Organic Collaboration” in the Journal of College Science Teaching in 1990 and “Reaction Time to a Fixed and Pseudo-Random Auditory Stimulus” in the first volume of the Laboratory Manual for Physiology in 2005. Dr. Goodyear has also written a poem, “My Lizard Friend,” published in 1989, as well as numerous other poetry works.
In order to keep informed of trends in her field, Dr. Goodyear has maintained involvement with many related organizations. She was the treasurer of Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional society for women educators, from 1983 to 1996, later serving the society as program chairman from 1984 to 1986 and membership chairman from 1997 to 2002. Additionally, she was active with the Association for Biology Laboratory Education from 1983 to 2001, serving as member-at-large from 1998 to 2001, the chairman of the first regional meeting from 1999 to 2000, and chairman of the nominations committee and lab initiative grants from 2000 to 2001. Dr. Goodyear also volunteered at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge.
In recognition of her efforts, Dr. Goodyear received the Original Poetry Award at the Bahamian Art and Drama Festival in 1971 and was named to the Outstanding Young Women of America in 1978. A grantee in her field, she was awarded the Meritorious Faculty Award by Bainbridge College in 1992, a Certificate of Appreciation for Helping by the Decatur County Science Fair in 1996 and a Certificate of Appreciation for hosting the first Regional Association for Biology Laboratory Education Workshop in 1996. Most recently, Dr. Goodyear was named a Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Bainbridge College Association of Educators in 2000. Furthermore, she was selected for inclusion in the 17th edition of Who’s Who in the World, the 26th edition of Who’s Who in the South and Southwest and two editions of Who’s Who in America.
A mentor who greatly motivated and inspired Dr. Goodyear was Michael Whitt, who told her she had a good mind and helped her develop her confidence and skills. Facing the challenge of getting the right supplies head on, she was motivated by seeing her students achieve. Her profession was very rewarding and she liked helping the students learn.