Len Goodman AO and Joyce Goodman OAM

The positive impact of Len Goodman AO and Joyce Goodman OAM’s involvement with Burgmann College cannot be overstated. From 1998 to 2012, Len served as College Council Chair, shepherding Burgmann through its most significant period of capital development since its construction, with the addition of the Postgraduate Village, Griffin Centre and Chapel. Joyce utilised her decades of volunteer experience to enhance the residential experience and establish legacy projects for the education and edification of students.

After their years of cherished friendship with and service to Burgmann, our community was deeply saddened when Len passed away in 2024. Len and Joyce were inaugural members of our St Beryl Society, indicating their intent to leave a bequest to the College in their Wills. Chair of Council and Board Greg Mills celebrated Len's life and legacy during our 2024 St Beryl Society event, and how Len continues to positively impact and serve others through his generous bequest.

‘Len and his beloved wife Joyce’s enthusiasm for Burgmann didn’t stop when he retired’, said Greg. ‘They were regular attendees at College events and inaugural members of the St Beryl Society.

‘Len and Joyce’s generous bequest of $25,000 to the endowment of our Scholarships and Bursaries Program will help remove financial barriers for future students, enabling them to experience the supportive Burgmann residential experience alongside their university studies.

‘Thank you, Len, for your incredible, invaluable contributions to shaping Burgmann College into what it is today.’

We are honoured to share the following story of Len and Joyce’s lives of service and the transformative impact they have had on Burgmann College.

Although Len and Joyce Goodman would go on to shape Burgmann in profound and lasting ways, their first steps towards involvement were modest.

Friend and former College Chairman Robert Swift OBE had encouraged Len and Joyce to join the College Council, which led to a discussion over lunch with then-Principal Rev Dr Lewis Rushbrook (resident [1971–1976]; Principal [1995–2005]) ‘to see what it was all about’.

‘We thought, “This would be nice—once a quarter, attend a Council meeting”. I was duly nominated by Bishop-in Council’, Len would later recall. ‘Then Robert Swift dropped it on me, saying: “I’m going to retire at the next Annual General Meeting in 1999, and I want to nominate you as Chairman”! Thus began a long and captivating chapter of my life.’

After the initial surprise of his new leadership role wore off, Len drew from his extensive experience of service and volunteerism to guide and shape Burgmann College over what would become his 14-year service as Chair of College Council, with Joyce an active Burgmann volunteer who was much-loved by residents, utilising her skills and long years of service to the benefit of the College.

Their story together began in the early 1950s, after Joyce’s girlfriends set her up on a blind date during a trip from their hometown of Maryborough, QLD to Brisbane. Len began taking the train from Brisbane to Maryborough to see Joyce at the town’s Saturday night dances and walk her home.

‘I was very distant. I was on the rebound and wasn’t ready to make any commitments. He’d walk me home, and I’d shut the gate on him. But eventually’, Joyce said with a smile, ‘I realised I had the most wonderful person in the world to spend my life with.’

The couple were married in 1953 and welcomed their first child in 1955.

Though Len had initially worked as an electrician, at the age of 26, he left what was arguably a more lucrative trade to become a youth and community worker, serving his community through organisations such as the YMCA, Diabetes Australia, and the ACT Society for the Physically Handicapped.

After Joyce’s brief Air Force service in Melbourne, the couple moved to Canberra and became active in the Anglican Church, through which Len learned about Burgmann College and eventually became Council Chair.

Len's efforts to steer the College initially received Council pushback. He would later recount the crisis he saw threatening the College and his drive to overcome the Council's concerns and shepherd Burgmann into a brighter future.

‘It seemed to me that we needed to better understand the way the ANU was developing and prioritising the building of its own student accommodation’, Len said. ‘Burgmann was one of the dwindling non-ANU “affiliated” Colleges […] [and] if we did not develop to meet the needs, or better still, pre-empt ANU developments for post-graduate students, then we would diminish.

‘[I]n the early 2000s, Council finally accepted the challenge […] After completion, there were other challenges, so I stayed on. They were very intense, but very happy years.’

Under the leadership of then-Principal Lewis Rushbrook and Len Goodman as College Council Chair, Burgmann College established the Postgraduate Village in 2002. Within years, the Chapel, the Art & Music Room, the Tutorial Rooms, and the Chafé would follow, with Len guiding and encouraging each new development.

Joyce Goodman OAM, a well-respected and celebrated advocate and volunteer, dove in alongside Len to drive change and establish legacy projects at Burgmann. In addition to her volunteer work at Burgmann, Joyce was known and recognised for her service to the Probis Club, Diabetes Australia, the YMCA, Rotary Club and Snowy Mountain Hydro. Her decades-long commitment and outstanding volunteer contributions to these organisations were formally recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2017.

Her invaluable work with Burgmann College was a key driver in ensuring the creation of the Village and its other building developments.

Joyce said the fruition of this plan was perhaps the couple’s most-celebrated and favourite memory of their service to Burgmann.

‘The finalisation of the Street [the pathway leading through the Village], and the buildings, and especially the Chapel—Len and I really loved that Chapel. There were many, many wonderful moments, but I would think the fruition of the original plan was just wonderful.’

‘All the way through, Joyce had been involved, processing voluminous correspondence and reports, and attending functions’, Len would later recall in a speech. ‘She had good relations with the students who thought she was “with it”. As Principal, Dr Philip Dutton [2006–2015] felt there should be recognition of her involvement. His wife, Valerie, was a government librarian. Philip [with Valerie and Joyce and Len’s daughter, a librarian and schoolteacher] proposed a library of books for people “to live by”, bringing together a collection by famous authors, including acclaimed philosophers, [and that it would be] the “Joyce Goodman Collection”.’

A glassed-in bookcase was installed in the Grenfell Price Room at College and supplied with the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the works of Homer, and the biography of AFL legend Ron Barassi. It also included writings of and about Bishop Burgmann and Grenfell Price, ANU works of note, collections of fiction and nonfiction classics, inspiring biographies, selected histories, and works in art and culture. Personal and professional development books, along with other edifying literature, rounded out the collection.

The Joyce Goodman Collection launched in November 2011, with long-time family friend and former President of the Senate The Hon Margaret Reid and former SA Premier John Bannon as honoured guests, and over $4,000 raised on the launch night for the Collection.

Years later, in recognition of his pioneering vision for the College, Len was conferred an Honorary Fellowship.

After announcing his retirement as College Council Chair, Len and Joyce were honoured with a special Farewell Dinner at Burgmann College in 2013, where Len shared parting words with guests that best encapsulated the philosophy on service and giving back that shaped his life:

‘In keeping with the Rotary’s motto of “Service above self”, I believe in the axiom, “You have never done enough—unless you have done all you can.”’

Joyce Goodman OAM remains a steadfast and cherished friend of the College. In particular, her kindness and mentoring of Burgmann residents left an indelible mark on countless young people’s lives.

‘We had the most amazing life. We were very blessed. The people we met, the things we’ve been able to take part in', she said. ‘I think it’s terribly important to make the most of every day. Whatever’s thrown at you, you have to make the best of it.

‘I used to say often to the students: “The door to opportunity opens. Some walk through, some won’t or don’t, so always grab the opportunity to be the best you can be”.’