Randolph Kirk obtained a B.S. in Physics from Stanford University (1981) and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from Caltech in 1987. He joined the USGS Astrogeology Science Center shortly thereafter as a geophysicist specializing in the study of icy bodies but his interest in remote sensing led him to focus increasingly on planetary mapping. He has been a member or guest investigator on 9 NASA/ESA/ISRO imaging teams and an associate of 4 others, as well as a Principal Investigator in the NASA Planetary Cartography program from 1988 to 2016. He developed unique software for photoclinometry and pioneered the application of digital photogrammetry to planetary optical and radar images, leading to the production of controlled image mosaics and digital topographic models of bodies from Venus to Triton. Every successful NASA Mars landing to date has been at a site selected based in part on topographic maps from the Astrogeology team. Kirk is a member of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements, and member (past chair) of the ISPRS Planetary Mapping Working Group. Since 2014 he has been a Scientist Emeritus at the USGS.