Harrison M. Randall

Who is Harrison M. Randall?

Harrison McAllister Randall was an American physicist whose leadership from 1915 to 1941 brought the University of Michigan to international prominence in experimental and theoretical physics.

Prior to 1910, the Michigan Physics Department had focused on precision metrology. Dr. Randall, who took all of his degrees at Michigan, initially specialized in that subject. In 1902, his PhD thesis measured the coefficient of expansion of quartz. During his 1910-11 sabbatical year in Tübingen, Germany he met Friedrich Paschen and became an expert in infrared spectroscopy. Randall then introduced these techniques to the University of Michigan.