Harvey Goodstein was born deaf to deaf parents in the Bronx in 1944. After attending a deaf program in New York’s Public School 47 for a few years, he moved to Lexington School for the Deaf and then the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains. He studied mathematics at Gallaudet College, graduating in 1965. At Gallaudet, he was active on the soccer and basketball teams, and worked on the Tower Clock and Buff and Blue. He was also a member of the U. S. soccer team at the 10th International Games for the Deaf in 1965.

After graduating, Goodstein worked for the Public Housing Administration as a computer programmer on the utilization of housing projects for more than a year. He then went on to study toward his master’s degree in mathematics at Catholic University on a part-time basis, while also working as a linotype operator at the Washington Post for three and a half years. He joined Gallaudet’s faculty as an instructor in mathematics in 1970, and earned his MS degree in 1971. He remained a faculty member for over 30 years, and served as Gallaudet’s varsity basketball coach for several years in the 1970s.

Goodstein went on to earn a doctorate in mathematics education at American University. From 1986 to 1992, he directed the Gallaudet Summer Institute in Mathematics for Pre-College Teachers, a National Science Foundation-sponsored clinic for teachers of the deaf.

He was also responsible for organizing the Deaf Way II conference in 2002, and was named a Professor Emeritus at Gallaudet in 2004. As of this writing, he is a member of Gallaudet’s Board of Trustees.

Besides his accomplishments at Gallaudet, Goodstein has been very active in local and national deaf organizations. He has been president of the Maryland Association of the Deaf (MDAD), vice-president of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), and also chaired the NAD’s Telecommunications Committee. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland School for the Deaf.