Paul Randolph Farnsworth was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on August 15, 1899[1] to parents Hiland R. and Elizabeth M.
He remained at Ohio State to complete a master's degree and a PhD, graduating in 1925 under advisor Albert Paul Weiss.
[1] Helen earned a PhD in economics at Stanford and became a professor in their Food Research Institute in 1929.
The Farnsworths became one of the first married couples employed as regular faculty members at Stanford.
[3] He was frequently in poor health—in his younger years, he was afflicted by chronic amoebic dysentery.