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Randolph, Lynwood
Oral history interview with Lynwood Randolph, 2020 September 9.
Interview with Lynwood Randolph, physicist and former space program administrator at NASA. Randolph recounts his childhood in a segregated Richmond and remembers his love for music as well as his introduction to physics in high school. He explains his decision to attend Virginia State University, where he participated in the ROTC program and served in the military upon graduation. After his service, Randolph decided to pursue graduate school and received a National Defense Education Act fellowship to attend Howard University. He explains his focus on experimental work during his graduate studies, pertaining to radiation effects and optical properties of materials. Randolph began a summer job at Harry Diamond Laboratories in DC, where he went on to work for 10 years. Randolph discusses the limitations in the types of jobs available to African Americans at the time, and explains the opportunity at NASA that led him to spend 23 years there. He served in many roles such as Manager for Advanced Concepts in the office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, Chief of the Management Programs Branch, and, later, Information Technology Standards Manager. Randolph reflects on the diversity within NASA over the years and how technology innovations impacted the workplace landscape. He discusses his work with HBCUs and his creation of LES Associates, a consulting company that works in a variety of educational and technological areas. Randolph concludes the interview with reflections on the importance of mentorship and diversity within the field.
Lynwood Randolph is an American physicist and former space program administrator. He completed his graduate studies at Howard University. Randolph spent 10 years at Harry Diamond Laboratories and 23 years at NASA Headquarters. He is the founder and CEO of consulting company LES Associates.
American Physical Society
Clark Atlanta University
Harvard University.
Howard University
Texas Southern University
United States. Army
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
U.S. Army Harry Diamond Laboratories
Virginia State University
African American physicists
Diversity in the workplace
HBCUs (Historically black colleges and universities)
Optical properties.
Radiation effects. phys-t
Space sciences -- Administration -- United States.
Interviews. aat
Oral histories. aat
Transcripts. aat
Zierler, David, 1979- interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
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