Long-time donors establish endowed professorship in chemistry

Northwest students work in a chemistry lab at the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation. (Photo by Lauren Adams/Northwest Missouri State University)

A Northwest Missouri State University alumnus, whose chemistry education put him on a path to develop a multi-million dollar business creating infection control products, is maintaining his generous support of the University with a gift that will now assist its faculty.

Cal and Marilyn Goeders

Cal Goeders, a 1953 graduate of Northwest, recently created the Calvin and Marilyn Goeders Endowed Professorship in Chemistry, which will provide $20,000 annually. An endowed professorship gives special recognition to a faculty member for continued exemplary service to their field while providing funding support for professional development and enhanced instruction.

“We remain grateful for Cal and Marilyn’s long-term support and interest in the ongoing success of our University,” Laurie Long, a senior gift planning officer with Northwest’s Office of University Advancement and the Northwest Foundation Inc., said. “Their unwavering commitment to strengthen Northwest’s chemistry offerings is truly inspiring. It’s wonderful that their legacy will forever impact the lives of our chemistry faculty and students who share their passion.”

Northwest Provost Dr. Jamie Hooyman added, “Through the generosity of the Goeders, Northwest will be able to uplift high-quality faculty in chemistry. With endowed professorships, Northwest can recruit and retain the best faculty to focus on student learning.” 

After Cal completed service in the U.S. Navy and a teaching stint at a high school and junior college in Iowa, the Goeders moved to Midland, Michigan, in 1961. There, Cal began an 18-year career with Dow Chemical Company, where he worked as a chemist, research manager and marketing executive. In 1980, he founded Caltech Industries in Midland to invent and develop products for infection control at health care facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, and physician and dental offices. He served as Caltech’s president until retiring in 1996.

In 1997, he established a program through which retired scientists and engineers volunteered their time at a low-income elementary school in Midland. The program substantially raised state test scores and encouraged students to develop an interest in science.

Simultaneous to Cal’s career, Marilyn focused on homemaking and raising their four children. In 1970, she began nursing coursework and graduated with a registered nursing certification from Delta College in Michigan in 1974. She maintained employment as a nurse into the mid-1990s.

The couple were high school sweethearts whose marriage in 1952 continued for 72 years until Marilyn passed in March at the age of 94.

A native of Algona, Iowa, Cal graduated from Northwest with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He also was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and says his experience at Northwest gave him direction for his career and life.

“It was just the highest level of academia that I was aware of and, at that point in time, it was growing very rapidly,” Cal said as he reflected on his Northwest education and early work at Dow Chemical Company.

The Goeders have generously supported Northwest and its students for decades through their contributions to the J. Gordon Strong Scholarship, which honors one of Cal’s faculty mentors. Additionally, the Goeders established the Calvin and Marilyn Goeders Chemistry Scholarship in 2018 through a six-figure gift to the Northwest Foundation.

To make a gift in support of the Calvin and Marilyn Goeders Endowed Professorship in Chemistry, or to make a gift to another Northwest fund, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/GiveOnline or contact the Office of University Advancement at 660.562.1248 or advance@nwmissouri.edu.