goethe founded california state university, sacramento (sacramento state college at the time), which in turn treated goethe with the reverence of a founding father, appointed him chairman of the university's advisory board, dedicated the goethe arboretum to him in 1961, and organized an elaborate gala and 'national recognition day' to mark his 90th birthday in 1965, when he received letters of appreciation - solicited by his friends at csus - from the president of the nature conservancy, then-governor edmund g. brown, and then-president lyndon b. johnson. as a result, in 1963, goethe changed his will to make csus his primary beneficiary, bequeathing his residence, eugenics library, papers, and $640,000 to the university.