Jennifer Monday Goldman, a much-loved alumna from the Class of 2000 and a member of the law school’s development office since 2018, has died. She was 50 years old.
Goldman suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall at her Austin home on Dec. 23 and never regained consciousness, passing away on Jan. 6, surrounded by her family.
“Jenn’s warmth and enthusiasm, her bright smile, and her love for all things Texas Law were infectious and inspiring,” said Dean Bobby Chesney, who knew Goldman for many years as a family friend. “This is absolutely tragic and terrible for all of us.”
In a loving tribute, Goldman’s family wrote that “Jenn was a beautiful bright light, walked with extraordinary kindness and an open heart, insisted on justice, and worked daily to make the world a better place through her encouragement of others.”
The youngest of three daughters born and raised in Huntsville, Texas, to Dr. Charles and Jane Monday, Goldman was a star student, earning a full scholarship to The University of Texas at Austin, graduating with honors from the Plan II program, and then with honors from Texas Law.
The outpouring of emotion from friends and classmates from the many phases of Goldman’s life—from her Huntsville childhood, to her years as a Longhorn, through her stint as an attorney at Vinson & Elkins, her years as a devoted mother to her own three children, and a second career as a director of planned gifts at her alma mater—led to the establishment of the Jennifer Monday Goldman Memorial Scholarship to support excellence and access for Texas Law Scholars, a goal her family describes as “near and dear to Jenn’s heart and professional work.”
Goldman’s commitment to today’s law students was not only evident in her work dedicated to securing student support through alumni giving, but in her dedication to the law school’s mentoring program. Goldman was one of the program’s first cohort of mentors and she was beloved to her mentees.
“Jenn was an incredible mentor,” said her colleague and friend, Rémi Ratliff ’95, the director of Texas Law’s mentoring programs. “I still hear from the students she worked with that she was a huge and positive influence on their time in law school and the success they have enjoyed since graduating.”
Of Goldman’s many forms of service to the school, Chesney noted that, “the work she did was a perfect blend of her legal expertise, her love of UT, and her remarkable people skills.”
Goldman is survived by her three children, Annie, Caroline, and Charlie Goldman; her parents; and her sisters, Julie Ballard and Kim Monday.
She is also survived by a law school filled with colleagues who cherished her brilliance, energy, and creativity.
Gifts to the Jennifer Monday Goldman Memorial Scholarship may made online or by check mailed to The University of Texas Law School Foundation, c/o The Jennifer Monday Goldman Memorial Scholarship, 727 E. Dean Keeton, Austin, TX 78705.
You can read the family’s obituary, as well as scores of messages from those who knew and loved Goldman, at the Dignity Memorial website.