Lisa Randall
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Lisa Randall Template:Postnom (born June 18, 1962) is an American theoretical physicist and Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University.<ref name=HU>Template:Cite web</ref> Her research includes the fundamental forces of nature and dimensions of space. She studies the Standard Model, supersymmetry, possible solutions to the hierarchy problem concerning the relative weakness of gravity, cosmology of dimensions, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter.<ref name=NAS>Template:Cite web</ref> She contributed to the Randall–Sundrum model, first published in 1999 with Raman Sundrum.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Early life and education
Randall was born in Queens, New York City, New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1980,<ref name="edgememberbio">Template:Cite web</ref> where she was a classmate of fellow physicist and science popularizer Brian Greene.<ref name="colmag">Template:Cite news</ref> She won first place in the 1980 Westinghouse Science Talent Search at the age of 18 and was also named a National Merit Scholar. She attended Harvard University, where she took Math 55,<ref name="Rosenman">Template:Cite news</ref> earned a BA in physics in 1983 and a PhD in theoretical particle physics in 1987 under Howard Georgi.<ref name=HU />
Work
Randall researches particle physics and cosmology at Harvard, where she is a professor of theoretical physics. Her research concerns elementary particles and fundamental forces, and has involved the study of a wide variety of models, the most recent involving dimensions. She has also worked on supersymmetry, Standard Model observables, cosmological inflation, baryogenesis, grand unified theories, and general relativity.
After her graduate work at Harvard, Randall held professorships at MIT and Princeton University before returning to Harvard in 2001.<ref name=CV>Template:Cite web</ref> Professor Randall was the first tenured woman in the Princeton physics department and the first tenured female theoretical physicist at Harvard. (Melissa Franklin was the first tenured woman in the Harvard physics department.)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=WIP>Template:Cite web</ref>
Writing and science popularization
Randall's books Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions and Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World have both been on New York Times 100 notable books lists.<ref name=HU />
Between the hardback and paperback release of Knocking on Heaven's Door, the quest for the discovery of the Higgs boson was actually completed, a subject discussed in the book. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider found a particle identified as the Higgs boson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She said about the discovery, that even if people don't understand everything about it, "what an exciting thing it is that people are excited that there is something fundamentally new that has been discovered."<ref name="PI">Template:Cite web</ref> Randall has an e-book entitled Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space. Before the Large Hadron Collider was operating, she wrote an article explaining the discoveries that were expected from using it.<ref name="TY">Template:Cite web</ref> She was commonly asked about the misconception that the LHC could make black holes that could destroy the planet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She answered that it was "not even conceivable unless space and gravity are very different from what we thought."<ref name=TY/>
Randall wrote the libretto of the opera Hypermusic Prologue: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes on the invitation of the composer, Hèctor Parra, who was inspired by her book Warped Passages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Professional organizations
Randall is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004) and the National Academy of Sciences (2008),<ref name=NAS /> the American Philosophical Society,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Randall has helped organize numerous conferences and has been on the editorial board of several major theoretical physics journals.<ref name=HU /><ref name=CV />
Awards and honors
In autumn 2004, she was the most cited theoretical physicist of the previous five years. Randall was featured in Seed magazine's "2005 Year in Science Icons" and in NewsweekTemplate:'s "Who's Next in 2006" as "one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation". In 2007, Randall was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People (Time 100) under the section for "Scientists & Thinkers". Randall was given this honor for her work in theoretical physics.<ref>Rawe, Julie. "Time 100". Time magazine May 14, 2007: 108.</ref>
Other honors:
- J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics 2019<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Andrew Gemant Award, 2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, 2008<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Lilienfeld Prize, 2007<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- E. A. Wood Science Writing Award, 2007<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Klopsteg Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), 2006<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Premio Caterina Tomassoni e Felice Pietro Chisesi, from the Sapienza University of Rome, 2003<ref name="edgememberbio"/>
- National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, 1992<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Randall's sister, Dana Randall, is a professor of computer science at Georgia Tech.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Randall is an avid climber.<ref name="sfgate.com">Template:Cite web</ref> A rockface along the Mill Creek near Dumont in Colorado, is named Lisa Randall Wall after her by a local climbing society.<ref name="mountainproject.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In a climbing accident, after falling from the cliff despite proper safety measures, she injured her heel.<ref name="theguardian.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
Religious beliefs
When asked whether she believes in God, Randall said:
- "... I probably don't believe in God. I think it's a problem that people are considered immoral if they're not religious. That's just not true. This might earn me some enemies, but in some ways they may be even more moral. If you do something for a religious reason, you do it because you'll be rewarded in an afterlife or in this world. That's not quite as good as something you do for purely generous reasons."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Bibliography
References
External links
Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons category
- Lisa Randall at Harvard
- Template:Cite web Member biography on Edge.org.
Media
Publications
- 1962 births
- 20th-century American physicists
- 20th-century American women scientists
- 21st-century American physicists
- 21st-century American women scientists
- American atheists
- American cosmologists
- American particle physicists
- American string theorists
- American theoretical physicists
- American women academics
- American women physicists
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Fellows of the American Physical Society
- Harvard University alumni
- Harvard University faculty
- J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients
- Living people
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
- Members of the American Philosophical Society
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- MIT Center for Theoretical Physics faculty
- National Science Foundation Young Investigator award recipients
- Princeton University faculty
- Scientific American people
- Scientists from Queens, New York
- Stuyvesant High School alumni