Richard N. Goldman was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

 who co-founded the Goldman Environmental Prize

Goldman Environmental Prize

The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of...

 in 1990 with his wife, Rhoda Goldman. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is an international news agency serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world. The JTA was founded on February 6, 1917, by Jacob Landau as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau in The Hague with the mandate of collecting and disseminating news among and...

has called Goldman "one of the most influential Jewish philanthropists in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

." He founded the insurance company Goldman Insurance and Risk Management, and with his wife he established the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund in 1951.

Philanthropy

Richard and Rhoda Goldman established the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, in 1990. Goldman's foundation, which is sometimes nicknamed the "Green Nobel," awarded six prizes annually worth $150,000 USD to environmental activists representing six regions of the world. Approximately $13.2 million has been awarded to activists from more than 70 countries since the Goldmans established the award, as of 2010. The 1991 Goldman Environment Prize winner Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...

 from Kenya and founder of the Green Belt Movement

Green Belt Movement

The Green Belt Movement is an indigenous grassroots non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building...

, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 in 2004.

In addition to his work with the Goldman Environmental Prize, Goldman supported beautification

Beautification

Beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a person, place or thing. With regard to a town, city or to an urban area, this most often involves planting trees, shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and other...

 projects in San Francisco, and co-founded the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. Through his foundation, which is worth more than one billion dollars, Goldman funded projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

, including the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and the Rhoda Goldman Plaza. Among his California projects were investments in solar power

Solar power

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...

, and protection of redwood

Redwood

-Trees:Conifers* Family Cupressaceae *** Sequoia sempervirens - coast redwood**** Albino redwood*** Sequoiadendron giganteum - giant sequoia*** Metasequoia glyptostroboides - dawn redwood* Family Pinaceae...

 forests and sealife. In 2004, he was awarded the Chairman's Medal in the 11th Annual Heinz Award

Heinz Award

The Heinz Award is an award currently given annually to ten honorees by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the five areas of: Arts and Humanities, the Environment, the Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, the Economy...

.
The Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy

Goldman School of Public Policy

The Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy is a public policy school and one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally named the Graduate School of Public Policy, it was founded in 1969 as one of the first public policy institutions in the United...

 at UC Berkeley is named for the Goldmans.

Personal life

Richard Goldman was the son of lawyer Richard Samuel Goldman and his wife Alice Wertheim Goldman. He died at his home in San Francisco on November 29, 2010, at the age of 90. He was survived by his daughter, Susan Gelman, and two sons, John and Doug. He was predeceased by his wife, philanthropist Rhoda Goldman, who died in 1996 and their son, Richard, who died in 1989.