His grandmother Rose Pearl Goodheart (Sudman) emigrated from Telenesti, Bessarabia to the United States. He si the son of Judge Bernard .J Goodheart. Among his scholarly honors, Goodheart is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award (2017), a Distinguished Lecturer of the Organization of American Historians (2014-20) and an elected member of the Society of American Historians (2016) and the American Antiquarian Society (2010). He has lectured at the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, Harvard, Yale (Poynter Fellow in Journalism, 2012), the National Constitution Center, the National Council for History Education (keynote speaker, 2013), the American Association for State and Local History (keynote speaker, 2012), and many other ve- nues. In 2006, after several years as a part-time scholar-in-residence at Washington College, Goodheart was appointed Director of the Colleges Starr Center forthe study of the American Experience. The position was endowed by the Hodson Trust later that year as the Hodson Trust-Griswold Directorship. Under his leadership, the Starr Center has focused on exploring new approaches to America's past and present, on fostering the art of historical writing, and on opening doorways to on- and off-campus opportunities for Washington College students. The Center is interdisciplinary and works with faculty and students in a broad range ofacademic departments.