Barb Goergen is a founding member of the ARCS Minnesota Chapter and has served as its president or co-president for the past eight years. Goergen's dedication to ARCS Foundation, Inc. is evident as she continues to serve as Vice President of Operations for the National organization. She says it is a pleasure working with all the hard-working and committed National volunteers.

With a degree in laboratory medicine from the University of Michigan, Goergen worked for the American Red Cross in Madison, Wisconsin, for 13 years in technical education, which included information technology responsibilities. After moving to the Minneapolis area, she wanted to keep a focus on medical-related work, so Goergen took a job at a small company creating educational computer-based programs for doctors. “Eventually, these programs were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. We also did a lot of work for medical associations, and eventually spun off our own company, Medicom Health, in 2000.” Although she retired after the sale of the company in 2021, Medicom Health continues to be a market leader in online health assessments for health systems around the country.

Goergen's expertise has been instrumental in managing projects for ARCS National as a liaison with the Foundation's hired company, Association Services Group (ASG). Her experience in managing the development of medical and health education programs and fostering client relationships has been invaluable. Her background makes her a strong example of the ARCS mission to “advancing science in America.”

Goergen’s first major involvement with ARCS National was co-chairing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) task force with the current National President, Beth Wainwright.

“It seemed like the right thing to do after the George Floyd situation here in Minneapolis,” she explains. “It was apparent that we needed to create opportunities for diversity, equity, inclusion in members and with our scholars. What I learned on this task force is that we already have a great deal of diversity in our scholars. This diversity needs to be recognized, and it is an opportunity for us to provide more support for our scholars as they go through their graduate careers. ARCS members are bound together in the common cause of supporting these very interesting scholars,” Goergen says. “It's a pleasure to be able to meet them, learn about their passion for their research, and hear the diversity of their stories.”

Part of her work on the National Board will be directed towards supporting the new initiative to be more connected with the ARCS Scholars who have completed their ARCS Scholar Awards and are progressing in their careers in science. The creation and approval of a Scholar Relations committee chair on the National Board in June of 2024 will prioritize connecting current scholars with the thousands of ARCS Scholars who have been funded by ARCS Foundation, Inc. in the past 65 years.