Gertrude Rand facts for kids

Marie Gertrude Rand Ferree (born October 29, 1886 – died June 30, 1970) was an American scientist. She was famous for her important work on how people see colors.

Her research included making "maps" of the retina (the back part of your eye that senses light). She also helped create new tools and lights for eye doctors. Plus, she worked on finding and measuring color blindness. With her colleagues, LeGrand H. Hardy and M. Catherine Rittler, she helped create a special test for color blindness called the HRR test.

While working at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Gertrude Rand invented new lighting devices. She even worked on the lighting for the Holland Tunnel in New York. In 1912, she received a special award called the Sarah Berliner Research Fellowship. She was the first woman to become a fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society and won a Gold Medal from them in 1963. In 1959, she was also the first woman to receive the Edgar D. Tillyer Medal from the Optical Society of America.

Early Life and Education

Gertrude Rand was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 29, 1886. Her father, Lyman Fiske Rand, managed a manufacturing company.

She finished high school in Brooklyn in 1904. Then, she went to Cornell University and earned her first degree in experimental psychology in 1908. She continued her studies at Bryn Mawr College, getting her master's and PhD in psychology in 1911. Her PhD project was about how different things affect the eye's ability to see colors.

In 1918, Gertrude Rand married Clarence E. Ferree, who had been her professor. She kept her maiden name, Rand, for her professional work. They worked together on research until he passed away in 1943.

Career and Research

After finishing her PhD, Rand stayed at Bryn Mawr College as a special researcher. In 1912, she received the Sarah Berliner Research Fellowship, which was a big honor. From 1913 to 1927, she was a professor and researcher at Bryn Mawr. There, she focused on finding ways to measure how sensitive the retina is to light and how well it can tell colors apart. She and her husband, Ferree, created a "map" of the retina called the Ferree-Rand perimeter.

In 1928, she moved to the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. She taught there as a professor, studying eye health and how the eye sees. With her husband, she set up a special lab for vision research. By 1935, she became the director of this lab. At Johns Hopkins University, Rand worked on many projects, especially those about industrial lighting.

After her husband died in 1943, Rand moved to New York City. She became a research associate at Columbia University. She retired in 1957. With her colleagues Legrand Hardy and M. Catherine Rittler, she studied how to find and test for color blindness. They developed the famous Hardy-Rand-Rittler (HRR) plate test for color blindness.

Awards and Recognition

Gertrude Rand was the first woman to become a fellow of the Illuminating Society of North America in 1952. She also received a gold medal from them in 1963 for her amazing work. She was a member of important groups like the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. During her career, she wrote or co-wrote over one hundred research papers.

In 1959, she received the Optical Society's Edgar D. Tillyer Medal. She was the first woman ever to get this award. That same year, she was also one of the first five women to be named a fellow of the Optical Society.

Later Life

Gertrude Rand passed away on June 30, 1970.