He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Illinois-Urbana in Communications (News-Editorial) (1972), his J.D. at DePaul University College of Law (1975), and his Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Program in Justice Studies at Arizona State University (1990), where his area of concentration was Dispute Resolution. He is a member of the Illinois and California bars, and is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the 7th and 8th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Illinois. Before coming to Loyola, Dr. Goldschmidt was a member of the faculty of Northern Arizona University's Department of Criminal Justice, and was an assistant executive director of the American Judicature Society.