Who was the director of the Biophysics Research Unit at King's College?

The director of the Biophysics Research Unit at King’s College was John Randall. A physicist and biophysicist, Randall led the unit during the period when Rosalind Franklin, Raymond Gosling and Maurice Wilkins conducted crucial DNA research.

Randall had joined King’s College after major wartime work on radar, including the development of the cavity magnetron. At King’s, he helped establish a research programme that applied physics to biological problems. The Medical Research Council supported the Biophysics Research Unit, with Randall serving as its director.

Before Franklin arrived in 1951, Randall decided that her X-ray expertise should be applied to DNA fibres rather than the proteins and lipids originally specified in her appointment. He assigned Gosling to work with her, while Wilkins was also studying DNA in the same broader research environment.

Randall’s management helped create the setting for Photo 51 and the DNA discoveries, but the division of responsibilities was poorly communicated. That confusion contributed to friction between Franklin and Wilkins, a frequent source of misunderstanding in accounts of the discovery of DNA’s structure.