News organizations and titles:Chief executive, editor in chief, Adam Smith's Global Television, PBS, 1998 to present; creator, host, editor in chief, "Adam Smith's Money World," PBS, 1984-96; host, editor in chief, "Adam Smith's Money Game," 1997; commentator, PBS, 1981-present; executive editor, Esquire, 1978-81; editorial chairman, New Jersey Monthly, 1976-79; commentator, NBC News, 1974; co-founder, contributing editor, vice president, New York magazine, 1967-77; first editor, executive vice president, board of directors, Institutional Investor, 1967-72.
Legacy: Mr. Goodman has been a PBS mainstay since 1984 and greatly influenced the definition of broadcast business journalism. Long before his leap to television, Mr. Goodman was a skilled money manager, best-selling author and pioneering journalist. Historian Theodore White said his style revolutionized the field of financial writing.
Journalistic Progeny: Robert Krulwich, Benjamin J. Stein and CNN Newstand.
Personal: Born Aug. 10, 1930. Memberships include Council on Foreign Relations; vice president, Authors League Foundation; board of directors since 1975 for Authors Guild; director, USAIR Inc., 1978-present; director, Hyatt Hotels, 1977-81; director, Cambrex Inc.; director, Providentia Ltd., Sweden, 1984-86.
Family: Married Sallie Cullen Brophy, Oct. 6, 1961; two children, Alexander Mark and Susannah Blake.
Books: Under pseudonym Adam Smith: "The Money Game," 1968; "Supermoney," 1971; "Powers of Mind," 1975; "Paper Money," 1981; and "The Roaring '80s," 1988.
Awards: Gerald Loeb Award winner, 1969; media award for economic understanding with TV documentary, Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College,1978; Emmy for best interview, 1995; three Emmys for graphics; Overseas Press Club award, 1997.
Education: Harvard University, A.B. , magna cum laude, 1952; Rhodes scholar, Oxford University, 1952-54.
What he has said about himself or his work: About the pseudonym given to him for his first piece for New York Magazine when he wrote about Motorola: "I needed a pseudonym so that I could go to luncheon meetings on Wall Street without being identified as a reporter, but I certainly wasn't happy with that name. It was chosen by one of the editors at the magazine and it was supposed to be a joke. I thought it was awful, but the whole thing took off, and I was stuck with it."
About his television show: "When we started it, I brought in several early issues of Institutional Investor to give the producer an idea of the style I had in mind, and he was able to adapt it easily. I have always believed that if you dramatize a story, you can make it comprehensible while at the same time maintaining a relatively high level of sophistication."Home run stories or accomplishments: "Adam Smith's Money World" was nominated for more Emmys than any other business show.
What he made news or headlines for: In 1990, "Adam's Smith Money World" began airing in the USSR.
What others have said about him: Peter Landau, who succeeded Goodman as editor of Institutional Investor: "He changed the way we think about financial journalism. Instead of being told that the Dow Jones Industrials declined two points or something equally boring, all of a sudden we were awakened to the fact that exciting things happen on Wall Street."
Richard Scheinin in Avenue Magazine: "When he has Sony chairman Akio Morita talking by satellite to former United Auto Workers President Douglas Fraser in New York about the U.S.-Japan trade wars, that's damn good television. And when he smiles his trademark smile - pleasant, slightly bored, almost pencil-thin, the smile of a psychiatrist, authoritative yet unthreatening - it encourages Ivan Boesky to flash two beaming rows of predatory teeth and make this pronouncement: 'My motivation's never been the money. It's been the desire to do something well and thoroughly' - that's better than good television. That's remarkable stuff."