梅爾文·戈爾茨坦（，）是一名美國社會人類學家、藏學家，深入研究西藏社會、歷史、現代政治、一夫多妻制等等。

出生於紐約市，先後從密歇根大學取得歷史學學士和碩士，再從華盛頓大學取得人類學博士，其後長期擔任凱斯西儲大學人類學教授。

争议
戈爾茨坦被同行認為立場親中，他的研究經常得到中國政府的協助，能夠從中國政府方面拿到其它西方學者得不到的材料，在西方學界有「親中」的名聲。他是一個資料工作做得比較好的學者，即使不同意他的觀點的人，也很重視他所收集的文獻和實地調查資料。嘉央諾布指其著作抹黑西藏歷史，並引用諾貝爾經濟學獎得主阿馬蒂亞·庫馬爾·森的話：「可疑的歷史無法為可疑的政治辯護」。

家庭
他娶了西藏貴族噶倫索康·旺欽格勒的女兒。

中译本
《今日西藏牧民：美国人眼中的西藏》，上海：上海翻译出版公司:,1991年9月，ISBN 7-80514-784-1。书名原文Nomads of Western Tibet the survival of a way of life。本书根据香港奥达斯制作有限公司1990年版译出。本书描绘了藏族牧民传统的游牧生活方式，遭遇以及现状，并精选了212张摄影照片。
《喇嘛王国的覆灭》，杜永彬 译，北京：时事出版社，1994年6月，ISBN 7-80009-219-4。书名原文:A history of modern tibet 1913-1951 the demise of the Lamaist state。本书考察研究了藏传佛教王国近40年衰亡的过程及其原因。
《西藏现代史 1951-1955 暴风雨之前的平静》，2014年7月，香港大学出版社。
《现代西藏史：1955-1957》，彭雲 译，2019年11月，香港中文大学出版社。
《现代西藏史：1957-1959》，彭雲 译，2021年10月，香港中文大学出版社。

出版物

書籍 
A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 1: 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. University of California Press. 1989, 
 The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet and the Dalai Lama, University of California Press, 1997.
 (with William Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering), The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering, Armonk, NY: M.E.Sharpe, Inc. 1997.
 Chinese Edition of The Struggle for a Modern Tibet: the Life of Tashi Tsering, Mirror Books, Carle Place, NY., 2000.
 A New Tibetan English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan, University of California Press, Pp. 1200, 2001.
 (with Dawei Sherap, William Siebenschuh), A Tibetan Revolutionary. The Political Life of Bapa Phüntso Wangye, University of California Press, 2004.
 A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 2: The Calm Before the Storm: 1951-1955, University of California Press, 2007, .
 (with Ben Jiao, Tanzen Lhundrup), On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet: The Nyemo Incident of 1969, University of California Press, 2009, .
 A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 3: The Storm Clouds Descend, 1955–1957, University of California Press, 2013, .

期刊論文 
 "Stratification, Polyandry and Family Structure in Tibet," in Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 27, No. 1: 64-74, 1971.
 "Serfdom and Mobility: An Examination of the Institution of "Human Lease" in Traditional Tibetan Society," in The Journal of Asian Studies, May 1971, vol. 30, issue 3, pp. 521-534.
"Fraternal Polyandry and Fertility in a High  Himalayan Valley in Northwest Nepal," in Human Ecology, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 223–233, 1976.
"Pahari and Tibetan Polyandry Revisited," in Ethnology, 17(3): 325-347, 1978.
(with P. Tsarong), "Tibetan Buddhist Monasticism: Social, Psychological and Cultural Implications," in The Tibet Journal, 10(1): 14-31, 1985.
"Re-examining Choice, Dependency and Command in the Tibetan Social System. "Tax Appendages" and Other Landless Serfs," in The Tibet Journal, vol. XI, No 4, 1986, pp. 79-112.
"When Brothers Share a Wife," in Natural History, March, 1987.
"On the Nature of Tibetan Peasantry," in The Tibet Journal, vol. XIII, No 1, 1988, pp. 61-65.
"Freedom, Servitude and the "Servant Serf" Nyima," in The Tibet Journal, vol. XIV, No 2, 1989, pp. 56-60.
(with Cynthia M. Beall), "China's Birth Control Policy in the Tibet Autonomous Region," in Asian Survey, vol. 31, No 3, 1991, pp. 286-303.
"The Dalai Lama's Dilemma ," in Foreign Affairs, vol. 77, No. 1, January/February 1998.
(with Ben Jiao, Cynthia M. Beall & Phuntso Tsering), "Fertility & Family Planning in Rural Tibet ," in The China Journal, Issue 1, 2002.
(with G. Childs, Phujung Wangdui), "Beijing's 'People First' development initiative for the Tibet Autonomous Region's rural sector — a case study from the Shigatse area ," in The China Journal, 2010, Vol. 63, pp. 59–78.
(with Cynthia M. Beall), "Changing patterns of Tibetan nomadic pastoralism," In Human Biology of Pastoral Populations, Leonard and Crawford (eds.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 131–150.

書籍章節 
"Adjudication and Partition in the Tibetan Stem Family," in D. Buxbaum (ed.), Chinese Family Law and Social Change, University of Washington Press, 1978.
"The Revival of Monastic Life in Drepung Monastery," in Goldstein and Kapstein (eds.), Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival & Cultural Identity, pp. 16–52, 1998a.
"Introduction," in Goldstein and Kapstein (eds.), Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival & Cultural Identity, pp. 1–15, 1998b.
(with Cynthia M. Beall), "Changing patterns of Tibetan nomadic pastoralism," in Human Biology of Pastoral Populations, Leonard and Crawford (eds.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 131–150.
"Tibetan Buddhism and Mass Monasticism," in Des moines et des moniales dans le monde. La vie monastique dans le miroir de la parenté (ss la dir. de Adeline Herrou et Gisele Krauskopff), Presses universitaires de Toulouse-le Mirail, 2010.

特別報告 
Tibet, China and the United States: Reflections on the Tibet Question , Occasional Paper Series, The Atlantic Council of the United States, April 1995, 89 p.

美國人類學家
美國藏學家
華盛頓大學校友
密歇根大學校友
凱斯西儲大學教師
中國史學家
列文森圖書獎得主