Atul Goel

Atul Goel, 59, left this earth September 20th, 2016. A Fort Collins resident since 1982, Atul was born in Bareilly (UP), India December 6th, 1956. At age 5 he was sent to England for his primary schooling, later returning to India for high school at Sherwood College Nainital in the Himalayan foothills and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for college. A new hire by HP, he came to Northern Colorado on the tails of his PhD in Applied Physics from Yale University. For thirty-four years he walked the same familiar halls, moving from Hewlett Packard to Agilent, and Avago to Broadcom working in a variety of managerial roles. During this time, he saw the corporation and the Fort Collins community he loved mature and evolve.

Despite his technical background; with an M.S. in Integrated Chemistry from IIT (1978); and M.S. degrees in both Biochemistry and Applied Physics (1981) additional to his PhD from Yale (1982), at his core Atul was a people person. In both personal and professional life he had the unique ability to inspire others and worked tirelessly to find common ground amongst all those with whom he interacted. With friends from across the country and around the world Atul never knew a stranger; any new acquaintance was sure to become a lifelong friend. At home and at work Atul’s inexhaustible positivity and drive were recognized and appreciated by family, friends, and colleagues.

Beyond formal education, Atul was quite accomplished, filing numerous patents over his career. Despite distance, love for his alma mater was paramount, a Fellow of Jonathan Edwards College, board member of the Association of Yale Alumni, member of countless AYA subcommittees, and an active member of the Colorado Yale Association. Humble to a fault, Atul rarely found need to talk about his own achievements, he was more interested in identifying and appreciating the merits of others. Though dedication to family and work commanded his time, Atul found great joy in analyzing the “great big mysterious world” around him. Atul was widely read and could hold educated conversation on any subject. In addition to his passion for WWII history, Atul was an enthusiastic member of the Ganeshwalla Literary Society. While he enjoyed every genre of literature from science fiction to historical memoir, his favorite novel from youth was Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s no wonder his wife Stephanie of twenty-six years is an Alabama girl.

Though challenged by his recent battle with acute myeloid leukemia, Atul remained steadfast to his longtime commitments. Throughout treatment and recovery, in spite of obstacle or setback, Atul’s work ethic and intellectual curiosity persisted. He regarded his disease more as a point of intrigue than a debilitating illness. In time, the entire staff of Colorado Blood Cancer Institute became part of his extended family. Until his last days, if not at home or work one might find Atul enjoying life with family and friends alongside.

Preceding him in death are his mother Brig. Gyan Dhara Goel, MD and his father Dr. Mahendra Kumar Goel. Atul is survived by his wife Stephanie (Culps) Goel, his son Rohan William Goel, and his sister Alinda Holla of New Delhi, India. Plans for a service in celebration of his life are pending and will be announced at a later date. Please visit Atul’s online memorial tribute at www.allnutt.com. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Community First Foundation (with reference to BMT Program/Atul) care of Lisa Dowd, 1721 E 19th Avenue Denver, CO 80218. These bequests will go to advancing and extending bone-marrow transplant programs in Colorado.