Isham Randolph

Isham Randolph (March 25, 1848 in Clarke County, Virginia – August 5, 1920) was an American civil engineer who is best known as the chief engineer of the Sanitary District of Chicago during the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Randolph had no formal engineering training, he began his career as a railroad axeman. After completing the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, at the time the largest canal in the world, Randolph became a consulting engineer on the Panama Canal at the request of the Roosevelt Administration.

Early life in Virginia (1848–1870) Isham Randolph is a descendant of the prominent Randolph family of Virginia.

The Panama Canal & private practice (1905–1920) Randolph was appointed to the International Board of Consulting Engineers for the construction of the Panama Canal in May 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt. After resigning from the Sanitary District of Chicago in 1907, Randolph went into private practice as a civil engineer. Isham Randolph died August 2, 1920.