Robert "Bob" Kerr Goodwin is an American non-profit executive, political appointee, and publisher known for serving as CEO of Points of Light.

Early life and education

Goodwin was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

in 1948 to E.L. Goodwin, an attorney and a newspaper publisher, and Jeanne Osby Goodwin, a social worker and teacher. After graduating from

Bishop Kelley High School Bishop Kelley High School is an American Lasallian Catholic high school with 905 students, grades 9 to 12, located at 41st and Hudson Avenue, in the center of the Tulsa metropolitan area (in the Midtown area), on a campus spanning just over 47 ...

, earned his undergraduate degree from

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

and his masters in philosophy from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Career

After earning his graduate degree, Goodwin returned to Tulsa to join the family newspaper, ''The Oklahoma Eagle'', one of the most influential black-owned newspapers in the United States.

Government and Nonprofit Work

After years working in media, Goodwin transitioned to working for colleges and universities, taking public affairs and advocacy positions at

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learnin ...

and

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. During the 1988 election, Goodwin led the Democrats for Bush movement. After

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

was elected, Goodwin accepted a political appointment to serve in the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

, where he led the White House Initiative for Historically Black Colleges. In 1992, he joined the Bush-founded Points of Light Foundation and, in 1995 became its President and CEO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Robert Kerr Living people 1948 births African-American businesspeople Prairie View A&M University people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people