Alexander Randall 5th
| Alexander Randall 5th | |
|---|---|
| File:!alex randall best-crop.jpg Alexander Randall 5th | |
| Born | August 12, 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Princeton University (BA) Columbia University (MA) Columbia University (MEd) Columbia University (EdD) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Boston Computer Exchange East West Educational Development Foundation |
Alexander Randall 5th (born 12 August 1951), is known for creating the world’s first on-line market the Boston Computer Exchange program. He also founded East West Education Development Foundation,
His book, Life Lessons from Louie Motherball, Margaret Mead and the Good News Guy” was published by Outskirts Press in 2010.[1]
Early life[edit]
Randall was born in Philadelphia, where he attended William Penn Charter School during his high school years. He is a descendent of Alexander Randall of Annapolis, Maryland He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and from Princeton University in 1973, where he was a resident of Wilson College. He began his college career as a pre-med major, but switched to Psychology. He conducted research on the “Phenomenology of Schizophrenia” under the direction of Humphry Osmond and wrote “Opening the Doors a Witness to Madness,” as a radio documentary and later as a book Opening the Doors. Upon graduating from Princeton, Randall entered Columbia University first as a Masters student in Mass Media Communication, studying under Marshall McLuhan. Later as a Master’s Degree candidate in International Educational Development and ultimately as a Doctoral Candidate as a Teachers College Fellow studying General Systems Research under the direction of Margaret Mead. Under her guidance, Randall investigated the Psychology of Sleep and Dreaming, The Psychology of Innovation, the Diffusion of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sapiential Circles.
Professional Career[edit]
Randall taught Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology for the University of Maryland's Overseas Division from 1978 through 1982 on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He developed new seminars on Creative Problem Solving for the University.
Boston Computer Exchange[edit]
Randall has created more than 30 enterprises and businesses. He was the creator of the world’s first e-commerce enterprise; The Boston Computer Exchange. Wired Magazine called BoCoEx “Legendary” BoCoEx was described as a premier trader of computer technology. They uploaded the first database of products for sale to [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_(online_service) Delphi] an early Bulletin Board system that evolved and fused into the Internet. That was March of 1983 making BoCoEx the first business to offer products for sale “online.” BoCoEx Database was also pubished on CompuServe on Prodigy and on YellowData . Randall developed a new approach to communicating product prices to clients and made BCE a business that "never made a cold call". His weekly BoCoEx Index is a key barometer in the computer industry and published weekly in major computer journals. The BoCoEx Index was published in PC Week and ComputerWorld. Alex Randall’s Computer Handbook, was published by Microsoft Press in 1990.
East West Educational Development Foundation[edit]
Randall was co-founder (With Pat McGovern of IDG) and he was first President of the East West Education Development Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Foundation solicited donations of surplus computer technology, refurbished them and placed them in educational settings in over 50 countries in the 2nd and 3rd World. East West Foundation brought over 6,000 computer systems to democracy development groups throughout Eastern Europe in the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The New York Times examined this effort; Sound Bytes – Nurturing democracy Through Used Computers – NY Times
He was selected by the United States Information Agency to be an “American Participant” representing the United States at conferences in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and Ethiopia. He delivered a program on “Economic Development Utilizing Personal Computers” at more than 12 sites between 1987-88: American Library, Izmir, Turkey Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Turkey US Embassy Library, Ankara, Turkey Chamber of Commerce, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Central Planning Commission of the Ethiopian Government, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Rotary Club of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia US Embassy Library, Rome, Italy Copyright Seminar, Taipei, Taiwan US Embassy Library, Bangkok, Thailand Chulalongkorn University, Chang Mai, Thailand Chamber of Commerce, Osaka, Japan Chamber of Commerce, Tokyo, Japan
Randall was the first American to speak before the Ethiopian Committee for Central Planning.
Good News Guy[edit]
Randall moved to the US Virgin Islands in 1995 and created Good News Headlines on WSTA Radio as an experiment in social engineering. He created the good news format and its positive editorial slant to explore whether a community will produce more good news if a venue is created to broadcast the good news.
He developed the Virgin Islands Virtual Internet Demonstration on PBS station WTJX to instruct viewers in the use of the Internet in 1995 through 2001.
Current work[edit]
Randall is presently professor of Digital Media Communication at the University of the Virgin Islands. Randall developed the Communication laboratory facilities and wrote the grant proposals for the digital media lab. In 2005 he became a full time professor and the head of the Digital Media Lab. He teaches core classes in the Communication paradigm; Introduction to Communication, Intercultural Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Public Speaking, Computer Mediated Communication 1 and 2, Broadcasting classes, Communication Theory and web publishing classes. Randall is Chairman of Communication Art and Theatre in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Randall recently developing the new WUVI AM 1090 and FM 97.3 radio station for the University.
Awards and accomplishments[edit]
In 1973 Randall was awarded the Daily Princetonian Prize for the students who had done the most for Princeton during his 4 years at the University In 1990, Randall and his partner were awarded the “New Englander Award” in recognition of their innovative entrepreneurial spirit by the Smaller Business Associaiton of New England. In 2004 Randall was awarded the Citizen Award by the Small Business development Agency. In 2004 Randall was awarded the Reader’s Choice Award for Best Radio Personality by the Daily News Newspaper of the Virgin Islands.
External links[edit]
- alexrandall5.com is Randall’s audio recordings
- alex5.com is Randall’s current essays and Editorials
- Life Lessons Book Link
- Dream Wizard Conquers His Knight Mare Book Link
- Wikipedia articple on Boston Computer Exchange
- Randall’s Interview with J. Presper Eckert
- Information on Water Island
- Inc Magazine
- Randall as Computer Anthropologist
- Early Article on BoCoEx
- What was Delphi?
- Randall and Pres Eckert talk about ENIAC
- Princeton Alumni report on Randall
- Early Story on BoCoEx
- Late story on BoCoEx
- NY Times Article on Randall and Seat Book
- Sound Bytes – Nurturing democracy Through Used Computers – NY Times
References[edit]
- ↑ Randall, Alexander (2010), Life Lessons from Louie Motherball, Margaret Mead and the Good News Guy, Outskirts Press., p. 340, ISBN 978-1-4327-6196-7
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