Necrology: Richard Rainier Randall

Abstract

Dick Randall, a well-known figure in the world of toponymy, passed on March 14, 2015. Dick demonstrated continuously that he was multifaceted excelling in numerous and diverse activities. He was always eager to help and assist and was well respected by all who knew him and through his work those who did not know him. Dick was born in Toledo, Ohio on July 21, 1925. He moved to Washington, D.C in 1936 when his father was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as advisor to the National Resources Board. Dick earned an A.B. in 1948 and an M.A. in 1949 each from George Washington University. In 1955, Dick received his Ph.D. from Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts). He also studied in 1953 and 1954 as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Graz in Austria. Dick served his nation in the 94th Infantry during World War II where he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and received the Bronze Star and four Battle Stars. Dick’s career was always in various aspects of geography and cartography specializing in map editing, quality assurance, and applied toponymy. Although Dick began his career formally with the Central Intelligence Agency, he spent much of 1943 with the Alaska Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey interpreting aerial photographs. He began his formal career at the Central Intelligence Agency where he worked from 1955 to 1961 specializing in editing and later as a specialist in matters of Eastern Europe. In 1961 he became the representative in Washington, D.C. for Rand McNally & Company where he was instrumental in overseeing data collection for Rand McNally’s extensive line of products. His work was highlighted in 1969 when he designed the series of maps showing the world’s oceans and water bodies for inclusion in Rand McNally’s Cosmopolitan Atlas of the World. In 1973, Dick became The Geographer at the Defense Mapping Agency (now National-Geospatial Intelligence Agency) where some of his responsibilities included the foreign geographic names program for the federal government and serving as the Executive Secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. He retired from his professional career at the Defense Mapping Agency in 1993, but remained active in various professional organizations including the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping where he established its press relations program in 1966 and the Association of American Geographers where he was heavily involved with that organization’s Careers in Geography Program. He also maintained membership in the American Geographical Society and the American Name Society. Dick was also a long-time active fellow of the Explorers Club and member of the Cosmos Club. At the Washington Chapter of the