 Gooch in 1912 | |
| Virginia Cavaliers | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Graduate |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 26, 1893 Roanoke, Virginia, US |
| Died: | May 22, 1982 (aged 88) |
| Career history | |
| College | Virginia (1912–1914) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Robert Kent Gooch (September 26, 1893 – May 22, 1982) was an American football player and track athlete. Gooch was a quarterback for the Virginia Cavaliers football team of the University of Virginia. He was named a Rhodes Scholar, but the First World War interrupted his studies.[1] During the war, Gooch served with the American Ambulance Corps with the French forces on the Somme front, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.[2] He is the namesake of the Robert Kent Gooch Scholarship, for second and third-year college students who have a record of outstanding academic achievement and a record of outstanding service to others.[3] For many years Gooch was a political science professor at UVA, writing several books.[4] He is buried at the University of Virginia Cemetery. A named professorship of political science, the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics, was established in his honor at the university, with Larry Sabato the incumbent as of 2018.
