Goldsmith graduated from
Princeton University in 1982, with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She completed her Ph.D. at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison in mathematics (with a minor in computer science) in 1988. Her dissertation,
Polynomial Isomorphisms and Near-Testable Sets, was supervised by
Deborah Joseph. After short-term positions as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research instructor at
Dartmouth College, and NSF visiting professor at
Boston University, she joined the computer science faculty at the
University of Manitoba in 1991. She moved to the University of Kentucky in 1993. ==Public opinion==