Honoring Alan Goldberg, 1939–2026
One of the founding fathers of humane science died on June 9, at age 86. Alan Goldberg was also a cherished friend and ally whose support helped launch the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
As a renowned toxicologist who helped build a movement to decrease the use of and harm to animals in laboratory testing, he became director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Soon after, in 1996, he helped to arrange a meeting between animal rights activist Henry Spira, then dean of the Bloomberg School Al Sommer, and physician and associate dean Bob Lawrence—from which a new center with a focus on industrial animal production was born.
At its founding in 1996, the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) operated out of the CAAT office, and Alan served as a mentor to its staff. From 1996 to 2010, he served as a dedicated and active member of CLF’s Faculty Advisory Board.
Polly Walker, one of the Center’s first two staff members, recalls that “Alan believed strongly in the mission of the CLF and was a passionate supporter of the ethical treatment of animals. …he helped to build CLF from the ground up.”
CLF’s founding director and emeritus adviser Bob Lawrence remarks that, "Alan's role in stimulating a meeting between Henry Spira and Dean Al Sommer was critical to all that followed.” The meeting that included Henry Spira, Al Sommer, Bob Lawrence, and Alan Goldberg led to a vigorous discussion of what a school of public health could contribute to solving the problem of food animals raised in confinement.
Alan was also a member of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (2008), where his commitment to understanding the problems of large-scale animal operations informed the consensus recommendations of the commission.
“His professional and personal relationships with other commissioners, and his commitment to following the research, helped make the Pew Commission’s recommendations very powerful,” says Bob Martin, a senior officer at the Pew Environment Group and an emeritus adviser at CLF.
Environmental scientist and attorney Paul Locke, who is also a colleague and professor at the School, remarks that “Alan is the invisible hand that created the field of [animal testing] alternatives.”
Bob Lawrence remembers his friend and ally not only as a strong supporter of animal welfare, but as a dedicated scientist who made CLF possible. “Alan was the midwife to the birth of CLF,” he says.
He was also a good friend and colleague to our Center, and we will miss him.