astronomy

Theodore Goodson III

Theodore Goodson III is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Theodore Goodson III rather than just read about it. In short: Theodore Goodson III (born April 5, 1969) is an American chemist who is the Richard Barry Bernstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. He studies the non-linear optical properties of novel organic materials.

Key takeaways

Theodore Goodson III belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Theodore Goodson III to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Theodore Goodson III from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Theodore Goodson III (born April 5, 1969) is an American chemist who is the Richard Barry Bernstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. He studies the non-linear optical properties of novel organic materials. He was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2021. As of 2025, he became a co-editor of the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry.

Early life and education Goodson completed his undergraduate studies at Wabash College, a liberal arts college in Indiana. He moved to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for graduate studies, where he majored in chemistry. His research considered the non-linear optical properties of organic polymers. He worked in both the University of Chicago and University of Oxford as a postdoctoral scholar.

Research and career In 1998, Goodson joined the faculty at Wayne State University. He moved to the University of Michigan as a professor of chemistry in 2004. He demonstrated that ultrafast laser spectroscopy could be used to better understand materials for solar energy. In particular, he was building highly branched macromolecules. Whilst studying these macromolecules, Goodson and his co-worker Guo noticed that a hyperbranched phthalocyanine compound exhibited large and delocalized polarization. When voltages were applied to these phthalocyanines, charge carriers hopped around the structure. These phthalocyanines had high dielectric constants, which indicated that they would be better suited as the dielectric medium inside capacitors. In 2010, he became chief science officer for Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology. The spin-out company uses organic energy storage materials to make capacitors. Starting in 2006, Goodson published research on entangled two-photon absorption (E2PA). The 2006 paper reported that entangled photons produced through spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) possessed a 1031 times higher excitation rate as compared to the corresponding classical TPA process in a dendrimer material. A subsequent publication reported 10 orders of magnitude enhancement in a variety of small molecules. In addition to these two reports, Goodson has published over 15 letters/articles (not including reviews) claiming to measure and utilize E2PA. These reports have been disputed by academics.

Awards and honors 2011 Percy L. Julian Award 2012 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2012 University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award 2012 California State University, Los Angeles Lloyd Ferguson Distinguished Lecturer 2013 Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer 2014 American Chemical Society Fellow from the Physical Chemistry Division 2021 Elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering 2021-2022 Hagler Fellow 2024 Robert Holland Jr. Award (inaugural awardee) 2024 Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry (ACS)

Selected publications Sung Hei Yau; Oleg Varnavski; Theodore Goodson (7 May 2013). "An ultrafast look at Au nanoclusters". Accounts of Chemical Research. 46 (7): 1506–1516. doi:10.1021/ar300280w. ISSN 0001-4842. PMID 23651457. Wikidata Q34708859. Ajit Bhaskar; Ramakrishna Guda; Michael M. Haley; Goodson (November 2006). "Building Symmetric Two-Dimensional Two-Photon Materials". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128 (43): 13972–13973. doi:10.1021/ja062709x. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 17061848. Wikidata Q29544237. Oleg Varnavski; Neranga Abeyasinghe; Juan Aragó; et al. (1 April 2015). "High Yield Ultrafast Intramolecular Singlet Exciton Fission in a Quinoidal Bithiophene". The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 6 (8): 1375–1384. doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b00198. ISSN 1948-7185. PMID 26263138. Wikidata Q51813453.

Personal life Goodson is married to physician Stephanie Goodson.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Theodore Goodson III

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Theodore Goodson III claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Theodore Goodson III before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Theodore Goodson III ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Theodore Goodson III

In research: Theodore Goodson III appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Theodore Goodson III in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Theodore Goodson III is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1969 births, American chemists, Annual Reviews (publisher) editors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Theodore Goodson III outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Theodore Goodson III in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Theodore Goodson III means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Theodore Goodson III out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Theodore Goodson III in simple terms?

Why does Theodore Goodson III matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Theodore Goodson III?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Theodore Goodson III.