Dr. Charles Randall

Dr. Charles Chandler Randall, 94,
passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 31, 2007, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland, Mississippi. He had been a resident of Jackson, Mississippi since 1957. Services are at 2:00 P.M., Monday, April 9, 2007, at Wright and Ferguson Funeral Home, High Street in Jackson, with graveside services at the family plot in Leland, Michigan, in July, 2007.
Dr. Randall, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology, served as Chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center from 1957 to 1978. He was a highly respected authority on herpes and pox viruses.
He was born March 27, 1913, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Frank Hall Randall and Helen Chandler Randall. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky in 1936 and graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1940. On June 8, 1941, he married Virginia Gillette Smith in Cedar Rapids. He served in the U. S. Army Medical Corps in World War II from 1941 to 1945 and was in North Africa and France. He also served as a courier for sensitive military documents.
After leaving the army as a Major in 1945, he completed his residency training in pathology and joined the faculty at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Microbiology soon became his lifelong interest and he served as acting head of the Microbiology Department at Vanderbilt from 1955 to 1957.
Shortly after assuming his new duties in Mississippi in 1957, he was appointed Chairman of Graduate Studies, and then Assistant Dean of the School of Medicine for Graduate Studies in 1959, in addition to his primary role as Professor of Microbiology and Chairman of the Department.
He was the author of numerous professional articles and was an associate editor of several professional journals in the medical field. He held membership in many professional organizations, including the American Board of Pathology, the American Academy of Microbiology, the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Experimental Pathology, the American Association of Immunologists, the American Society for Microbiology, the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
During his distinguished career he received many awards, including a special award from the Mississippi Academy of Sciences for outstanding contributions to science in Mississippi. He was past president of the Association of Medical School Microbiology Chairmen, and the South Central Branch of the American Society for Microbiology, which later honored him by establishing the annual Randall Award for an outstanding young microbiologist. He served as Scientific Director of the Grayson Foundation and in 1990 was the recipient of the Gold Medal presented by the Jockey Club for outstanding contributions to the thoroughbred industry through his work on equine herpes viruses. When he retired in 1978 he left behind a well-rounded and strong department, whose former graduate and postdoctoral students were scattered over the country, many in academic roles.
Dr. Randall was a man of wide ranging interests. He was a generous supporter of many charities, including the Nature Conservancy. He was a member and past Governor of the Mississippi Society of Mayflower Descendants.
He was preceded in death by a son, Jay Gurney Randall, who died at birth in 1942, and by his beloved wife Virginia Smith Randall, who passed away on November 21, 2005. He is survived by sons Gillette Chandler Randall and Stephen Hall Randall, and by grandsons Charles Chandler Randall II and Mitchell Mackay Randall.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to either Hospice Ministries, 450 Towne Center Blvd, Ridgeland, MS, 39157, or to French Camp Academy, One Fine Place, French Camp, MS, 39745, or any charity of the donor's choice.