Ran received his PhD from UC Berkeley, working with Tad Patzek on micromechanics of granular materials. He was a postdoctoral associate at MIT with Ruben Juanes, studying multiphase flow in deformable porous media. Prior to joining Coventry, he was a faculty in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and a visiting scholar in the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC) in Barcelona, Spain.