Mike Goldenberg Recognized for Lifetime Achievement in Athletic Training

For nearly four decades, Athletic Trainer Mike Goldenberg has occupied a distinctive place in the lives of Lawrenceville students. In addition to caring for injured student-athletes, he also serves as a student advisor and Stanley House Duty Team affiliate, building relationships with generations of Lawrentians who know him simply as “G.”

Beyond Lawrenceville, Goldenberg has devoted decades to the athletic training profession. He began volunteering at the state level before assuming regional and national roles with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). Now vice president of the NATA Foundation, he has received the 2026 Eve Becker-Doyle Leadership Award—NATA’s highest honor for leadership and volunteerism.

“The Eve Becker Doyle Leadership Award—that is a huge, huge honor,” Goldenberg said. Becker-Doyle, a former NATA executive director, was one of his mentors. “She taught me a lot about leadership.”

At Lawrenceville, that leadership has been grounded in his daily work with students.

Goldenberg arrived at the School as Lawrenceville’s only full-time athletic trainer in 1989, overseeing rehabilitation during the school day and providing care to athletes during practices and games. He also established an athletic training student aide program that continues today, teaching students the fundamentals of the profession through experiential learning. His responsibilities eventually expanded beyond the athletic training room when he was promoted to associate director of athletics and later director of athletics.

While Goldenberg enjoyed administration, he missed the daily interactions with students that had defined much of his career. He eventually approached School leadership about returning to athletic training.

“I realized that’s where my heart still was,” he said.

For Gil Kim ’01, who spent hours in the training room rehabilitating a shoulder following surgery, what stands out decades later is Goldenberg’s consistency.

“As a rehab process goes, there were good days and not-so-good days,” Kim said. “But G always provided good perspective and kept the vibe positive. Every time I left the training room, G had a way of making me feel like you were a little bit further along than before you came in that day.”

But the athletic training room represents only one part of Goldenberg’s Lawrenceville life.

He is entering his 38th year as a duty affiliate of Stanley House, where he spends one evening a week in the House to make sure everything is running smoothly and to be a trusted guide for any school or personal issues students wish to discuss.

Mable Spritzer ’26 knew Goldenberg as her advisor, athletic trainer, and Thursday-night duty affiliate in Stanley. She remembers calling him on FaceTime one Friday night as she prepared to open her first college decision.

“Whatever happens, just move on, right?” he told her.

The decision wasn’t the one Spritzer had hoped for, but Goldenberg’s words stuck. She later made them her yearbook quote.

As an advisor, Goldenberg encourages students to look beyond the activity that may have brought them to Lawrenceville.

“Branch out,” he tells his advisees. Meet people beyond your familiar circle. Explore an interest unrelated to your primary sport or activity.

“The worst case scenario, you don’t like it, you step back,” he said. “That’s what’s so great about Lawrenceville. You can come in thinking that you’re going to do one thing and leave doing another.”

Over the years, Goldenberg has watched his relationships with students come full circle. Heather Hoover ’91 knew him first as an athletic trainer while competing in field hockey, squash, and lacrosse. Years later, Goldenberg cared for all three of her daughters at Lawrenceville, helping them through knee surgeries and other sports injuries.

“As a parent, knowing that your children are receiving top care is so comforting, especially when they are at boarding school and you cannot be with them,” Hoover said. “G’s professionalism and dedication is a great gift that he shared with our family.”

“Working with kids of alumni has really re-energized me,” Goldenberg said. “I love to hear their experiences, and they love to hear mine with their parents. It is a lot of fun and there is a natural connection.”

The Eve Becker-Doyle Leadership Award recognizes what Goldenberg has contributed to athletic training nationally. His Lawrenceville career shows what that leadership can look like closer to home. Kim credits Goldenberg with teaching him lessons about coaching and leadership that he still carries with him. Spritzer keeps a coin Goldenberg gave her at graduation in her wallet. Hoover has experienced his care both as a student and as a parent.

And the connections often continue long after students leave campus. Goldenberg has attended former Stanley House students’ weddings and visited alumni around the country. Sarah Rodrigues ’25, who relied on him through injuries and other challenges as a student, saw him when he visited Cornell this past spring.

“It was as if no time had passed,” she said.

“Just because you graduate from Lawrenceville, our relationship doesn’t end,” Goldenberg said.

Learn how Lawrenceville’s Athletic Training Program has grown during Goldenberg’s tenure: Athletic Trainers Strengthen Lawrenceville’s Circle of Student Care

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.