Daniel Gold

Daniel Gold, 78, of Ithaca, New York, died peacefully on February 16, 2026, at the Ithaca Hospicare Residence.

The second child of Bertram and Sylvia Gold, Dan was born in Newark, New Jersey, on May 24, 1947; he grew up in Los Angeles, as the Gold family moved there in his early childhood. Dan attended the University of California at Berkeley, receiving his BA in Slavic Languages in 1968. After graduation, Dan joined the Peace Corps and was posted to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, India, assigned to train teachers of English. There, Daniel found his guru, Malik Saheb of Gwalior, initiating a rigorous meditation practice that sustained him throughout his life and into his final illness. At the ashram, Adhyatma Niketan, Dan encountered Hindi devotional poetry in song; a strong desire to understand this literature's historical origins and spiritual meanings led Daniel to embark on graduate study at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

In Chicago, he met his future wife, Ann Grodzins Gold, and they married in 1981. Dan received his PhD in 1982. He taught at Vassar College and Oberlin College and held a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford before accepting a position in the Department of Asian Studies at Cornell University. Promoted to full professor in 1997, Daniel successfully balanced research and writing with teaching and service – publishing two major monographs along with numerous articles and a set of short documentary films set in Gwalior; serving twice as Chair of Asian Studies and twice as South Asia Program director. He was twice a fellow at Cornell's Society for the Humanities as well as holding external fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Institute of India Studies, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Dan and Ann returned frequently to India for fieldwork, both separately and together.

Beyond his strong commitments to meditation, scholarship, and family, Daniel enjoyed cooking, hiking, travel adventures, concerts, and local theater; he steadfastly supported progressive politics. His passion for language-learning was lifelong and extended into his retirement when he continued to translate poetry from the North Indian sant tradition. For years, he participated faithfully, until just weeks before his death, in a small weekly reading group slowly working their way through the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, in the original.

Daniel is survived by his wife, his two sons Jonah Gold and Eli Gold (Margaret Hull), his grandson Emery Goldhull, for whom he always had the biggest smile, and his younger sister Arna Shaw (Ron). He was predeceased by his older sister, Judy Rubin (Larry).

Dan's family is grateful to Ithaca's Hospicare for easing our last days together. Donations in Daniel's memory could be made to Hospicare or two additional causes he always supported: Healthy Food for All, Cornell Botanic Gardens Annual Fund, and Hospicare.