Leo Francis Goodstadt
Obituary
Originally published by Trinity Alumni News, June 2020
1938 - 2020
Trinity College lost a dear friend and colleague on 24 April 2020, with the death of Leo Francis Goodstadt JP, C.B.E, at the age of 81. Goodstadt was elected to Honorary Fellowship of Trinity College in 2015, and he was an Adjunct Professor in the Trinity Business School (2011 - 2018). He sat on the board of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies since its launch in 2015, where he was a wise and guiding voice in the establishment of Chinese Studies in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Goodstadt started his life afar from Trinity. A Welshman, he studied economics at the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester. He first travelled to Hong Kong in 1962 as a Commonwealth Scholar. In 1964 he was appointed as a lecturer in economics at the University of Hong Kong. Leo's academic relationship with the University was lifelong and he was presented with Honorary Fellowship of the University in recognition of his services to Hong Kong.
A skilled public communicator, Goodstadt served as Hong Kong correspondent for Euromoney (1978 - 1988) and The Times (1967 - 1973), and he was a regular contributor to the BBC. Goodstadt was best known for his role as head of Hong Kong's Central Policy Unit, established in 1989 to devise strategies on political, economic and social issues. Leo felt particularly strongly about improving housing, health and education on all levels.
Goodstadt was an internationally renowned scholar who authored over 60 books and journal articles on economic, social and political issues in Hong Kong and China. His last publication was A City Mismanaged. Hong Kong's Struggle for Survival (Hong Kong University Press 2018). He recently donated a complete set of his books in both English and Chinese to Trinity.
Goodstadt retired as Head of the Central Policy Unit in 1997 and moved to Ireland where he became an integral part of the Trinity community as well as St Andrew's Parish, Westland Row. Staff and students in Trinity will remember him as a generous, humble and dedicated scholar with a sparkling, even mischievous, sense of humour. He will be dearly missed, and we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Rose and the entire family circle.