[2] Goodwin attended the Oxford School and Milton Academy, graduated magna cum laude from Smith College with a BA in sociology in 1937, and earned her PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Connecticut in 1957.
During World War II Goodwin worked in the Department of Economic Warfare in India.
From 1957 to 1969, Goodwin taught economics at the University of Connecticut and served as assistant provost, responsible for institutional research and planning.
While serving in legislature, she led a compromise reorganization of the state's higher education and, in 1979, shepherded a school equalization plan through the legislature, creating new formulas for state educational aid for cities and towns.
[3] In 1993 Goodwin donated almost sixteen acres adjacent to her house in Mansfield, Connecticut, to the Joshua's Trust land conservation organization.