Lisa Randall

Lisa Randall, Ph.D., is a theoretical physicist and Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, where her research includes the fundamental forces of nature and dimensions of space, and connects theoretical insights to puzzles in our current understanding of the properties and interactions of matter. She has developed and studied a wide variety of models to address these questions, the most prominent involving extra dimensions of space. Her work has involved improving our understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics, supersymmetry, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter. Professor Randall also explores ways to experimentally test and verify ideas, and her current research focuses in large part on the Large Hadron Collider and dark matter searches and models.

Professor Randall’s studies have made her among the most cited of any other theoretical high-energy physicist in recent years, and she has received numerous awards and honors for her scientific endeavors. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; was a fellow of the American Physical Society; and is a past winner of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, and the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She was the first tenured woman in the Princeton University physics department and the first tenured woman theorist at M.I.T. and Harvard universities.

Professor Randall is an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Physics. In 2003, she received the Premio Caterina Tomassoni e Felice Pietro Chisesi Award from the University of Rome, La Sapienza. In 2006, she received the Klopsteg Award from the American Society of Physics Teachers for her lectures and she received the Julius Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society in 2007 for her work on elementary particle physics and cosmology and for communicating this work to the public. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Andrew Gemant Award from the American Institute of Physics, which is given annually for significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics.

Professor Randall is the author of two of the New York Times’ Notable Books of the Year: "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." In addition, she wrote the libretto for "Hypermusic: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes," which is based on her research. Professor Randall has also co-curated an art exhibit, "Measure for Measure," for the Los Angeles Art Association that focuses on the concept of scale and size.

She was on the list of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" of 2007; featured in Newsweek's "Who's Next in 2006" as "one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation"; and included in Seed Magazine's "2005 Year in Science Icons." In 2008, Professor Randall was among Esquire's “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.”

Professor Randall earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University and is also the recipient of honorary degrees from Brown University, Duke University, Bard College, and the University of Antwerp. A sought-after keynote speaker, she is a regular participant in TED, has given a Guggenheim presentation, and spoken at the Rubin Museum, the 92nd Street Y, and science museums such as the Museum of Natural History, the Boston Museum of Science, and the Smithsonian.