Rose Rand

Rose Rand (June 14, 1903 – July 28, 1980) was an Austrian-American logician and philosopher. She was a member of the Vienna Circle.

Rand was born in Lemberg (today, Lviv, Ukraine). After her family moved to Austria she studied at the Polish Gymnasium in Vienna. In 1924 she enrolled in Vienna University, her teachers included Heinrich Gomperz, Moritz Schlick, and Rudolf Carnap. She graduated with her first degree in 1928. During her post-graduation years, she continued to remain in contact with some of her fellow Vienna Circle colleagues, including Rudolf Carnap.

As a PhD candidate, Rand participated regularly in the Vienna Circle discussions, and kept records of these discussions, she was most active in the Vienna Circle from 1930-1935. Between 1930 and 1937 she worked, and took part in research, at the Psychiatric-neurological Clinic of the Vienna university. She also earned money by tutoring students and giving adult educations classes.

In 1938 she received her PhD for "T. Kotarbiński's Philosophy”.

Rand, unemployed and of Jewish descent, suffered great difficulties in pre-World War II Vienna. In 1939 she finally emigrated to London as a Jew without nationality.

After a period of time in England in which she worked as a nurse she was admitted as "distinguished foreigner” at the faculty of Moral Science at Cambridge University. In 1943 she lost her privileges and had to work at a metal factory, and teach night classes in German and psychology in the Luton Technical College and Tottenham Technical College. Karl Popper helped her to get a small research grant, so she could attend Oxford University as a "recognized student." Between 1943-50 she also worked in practical engineering.

Rand moved to the United States in 1954. Between 1955 and 1959 she taught elementary math, ancient philosophy and logic, and was a research associate, in the University of Chicago, Indiana University Northwest in Gary and Notre Dame University.

In 1959 she returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts and after that to Princeton, New Jersey. In the following years she earned her living from grants and fellowships which were given to her mostly for her work on translations. When not supported by grants Rand operated on private loans & other financial assistance, free-lance translation work, or sporadic temporary employment.

Rand’s records were purchased by the University of Pittsburgh. They contain, among other things, her research, the records of the discussions in the Vienna Circle protocols and over 1,600 letters to Otto Neurath, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alfred Tarski and others.