John A. Randall

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John Arthur Randall (July 25, 1881 – June 9, 1968) was the fourth President of the Rochester Institute of Technology, succeeding Royal B. Farnum, from 1922 – 1936.^[1]

Randall was born in Durham, Maine in 1881 and graduated from Wesleyan University.^[2]

Randall began his career in education at the Cheltenham Military School. He served as the head of the Physics department at the Pratt Institute from 1913 to 1917.

In 1918, he served as Undersecretary to Newton D. Baker in the War Department, editing training manuals and in 1932, he was commissioned as Colonel in the Special Reserves, assigned to the US Army General Staff.

From 1932 to 1936, he served as a special consultant to the Senate Committee investigating crime and racketeering. He also served as President of the Science Department of the National Education Association.

He was instrumental in the decision that RIT would not grant degrees and instead provide "short, intensive courses". In 1936, he left RIT to direct the Division of Educational Aids of the National Youth Administration.

He held memberships in many professional societies during his lifetime, including:

• the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education
• the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• the American Management Association

He married the former Georgiana Waldron Hathaway in 1936. His daughter, Marcia, married his successor, Mark W. Ellingson.

Randall died in Boonsboro, Maryland in 1968.^[3]

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Academic offices
Preceded by Royal B. Farnum	President of Rochester Athenæum and Mechanics Institute 1922 – 1936	Succeeded by Mark W. Ellingson