American ichthyologist (1924–2020)
John Ernest "Jack" Randall (May 22, 1924 – April 26, 2020) was an American ichthyologist and a leading authority on coral reef fishes. Randall described over 800 species and authored 11 books and over 900 scientific papers and popular articles.[1] He spent most of his career working in Hawaii.[2][3] He died in April 2020 at the age of 95.[4]
Career
John Ernest Randall was born in Los Angeles, California in May 1924, to John and Mildred (McKibben) Randall.[1] In high school he acquired a love of marine fish after a visit to the tide pools of Palos Verdes and, after serving stateside in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army during the post-D-Day years of WWII,[5] received his BA degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1950. In 1955 he earned his Ph.D in ichthyology from the University of Hawaii.[6]
After spending two years as a research associate at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, he moved to Miami, Florida and worked briefly at the University of Miami's Marine Laboratory,[7] alongside C. Richard Robins who remained there for his career.[8] From 1961 to 1965 he worked as Professor of Zoology and also, from 1962 to 1965, as the director of the Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. From 1965 to 1966 he served as the director of the Pacific Foundation of Marine Research's Oceanic Institute, Makapuu Point, Hawaii. From 1966 to 1984 he worked as an ichthyologist at the Bishop Museum, becoming chairman of the museum's zoology department in 1975[1] and gaining the title of Senior Ichthyologist in 1984.[6] He also, concurrently, served as a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii.[9]
In 2005 he was awarded the first Bleeker Award in Systematic Ichthyology at the Seventh Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in Taipei, Taiwan.[7][10][11]
Taxa named in his honor
Randall has had over 60 taxa named in his honor, among them are:[12]
