Current instructor

Randall Goldsmith

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.37/5 from 46 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

CHEM 562
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Goldsmith is incredibly smart and intelligent, and you can tell he knows this too. Most of the time his lectures and his vocabulary are unnecessarily complex to the point of me wondering what is he trying to prove. The material is not conveyed clearly and I rely heavily on the textbook to understand concepts.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 562
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
He might understand quantum mechanics, but he can't teach it! He assumed we somehow understand everything and uses advanced PChem language in class. Also, his hand is on top of his writing 70% of the time, and he explains the topics extremely fast. Homework is irrelevant to both lecture notes and textbook. Exam had stuff we never learned. Bad prof.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM109H · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
Goldsmith is by far one of the best professors I've ever had. He's super smart and passionate about chem, which is awesome. The exams are the hardest that I've ever taken, but he gives plenty of opportunities to build up your grade outside of the exams (weekly quizzes, problem sets, tophat, etc). Definitely a hard class but worth it!
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM109H · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Goldsmith was overall good, with a few small flaws. His lectures are clear and informative, though sometimes his homework sets aren't really taught/addressed in class. Overall, you end up very prepared for lecture.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM109H · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Lectures are always super interesting and engaging he truly cares that students understand the material. Very accessible during office hours and also very approachable.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM109H · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof Goldsmith is an amazing teacher that genuinely cares a lot about his students. The class is challenging but he sets you up for success. This was the course that convinced me to change my major to Chemistry. My biggest piece of advice is to go to the group homework sessions; they did wonders for my understanding of the material.
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Randall Goldsmith

CHEM 299 is a directed study course involving a mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

CHEM 699 is a directed study course involving an advanced mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

CHEM 980 is a graduate-level seminar where students engage in research discussions facilitated by faculty within their research group.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026
CHEM 990

Research

1–15 credits

CHEM 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026CHEM 299Directed Study
Fall 2026CHEM 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026CHEM 699Directed Study
Fall 2026CHEM 980Seminar: Review of Current Research
Fall 2026CHEM 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_1ed283649b13631eaf01ad67",
  "source": "enrollment",
  "source_instructor_id": "rhgoldsmith",
  "identity_basis": "netid",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "Randall Goldsmith",
  "email": "RHG@CHEM.WISC.EDU",
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 46,
    "quality": 4.37,
    "difficulty": 3.74,
    "quality_count": 46,
    "difficulty_count": 46,
    "profile_id": "rmp:1811597",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1811597",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:10:38.166125+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_4c0d8abb0c7e295314024163": {
        "review_count": 3,
        "quality": 1,
        "difficulty": 4.33,
        "quality_count": 3,
        "difficulty_count": 3
      },
      "course_f4c1d40f8af1545c1ccf8488": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 5,
        "difficulty": 1,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 4.154753267741393,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "current": true,
  "courses": [
    {
      "course_uid": "course_2913394fa17f744c9ca18d4b",
      "course_id": "CHEM 980",
      "title": "SEMINAR: REVIEW OF CURRENT RESEARCH",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 1,
      "gpa": 3.992
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_4a49f7e5e0f126c4d0a2ad0b",
      "course_id": "CHEM 299",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 4,
      "gpa": 3.945
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_bb4dd399ae999f41d21aab05",
      "course_id": "CHEM 681",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 2,
      "credits_max": 4,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_c2f22eab79dc18953ecf833e",
      "course_id": "CHEM 990",
      "title": "RESEARCH",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 15,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_fc7dc844a4fe9d3c11f4e103",
      "course_id": "CHEM 699",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 6,
      "gpa": 3.968
    }
  ],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/RANDALL_GOLDSMITH"
}