K. T. Compton

Biography

Abstract

PhD (Physics, 1912), Princeton University. President, MIT, 1930-1948; Physics Instructor, Reed College, Princeton University; Director of research, Palmer Laboratory; Chairman of the Physics Department, Princeton. Research interests include: photoelectrons, ionization and the motion of electrons in gases, fluorescence, theory of electric arc, and collisions of electrons and atoms.

Important Dates

1887Birth, Wooster (Ohio).

1907 – 1910Assistant in Physics (1907-1909) and Instructor in Chemistry (1909-1910), College of Wooster, Wooster (Ohio).

1908 – 1909Obtained BS and MS, College of Wooster, Wooster (Ohio).

1912Obtained PhD, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1913 – 1915Instructor in Physics, Reed College.

1915 – 1930Assistant Professor of Physics (1915-1919), Professor of Physics (1919-1930), and Chair of Physics Department (1929-1930), Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1917 – 1919Member, Associate Scientific Attaché, United States Embassy, Paris.

1917 – 1919Aeronautical Engineer, Signal Corps, United States Army.

1924Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1925 – 1926Vice President, American Physical Society (APS).

1927 – 1928President, American Physical Society (APS).

1927 – 1930Chairman, Section of Physics, National Academy of Sciences.

1930 – 1948President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1931Awarded Rumford Prize, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1931 – 1936Chairman, Governing Board, American Institute of Physics (AIP).

1933 – 1935Chairman, United States Science Advisory Committee.

1935President, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

1938President, Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education.

1940 – 1941Head of Division D, United States National Defense Research Committee.

1942 – 1945Member, Radar Ad Hoc Committee, Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment, United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1943 – 1946Member, Advisory Board, Army Specialized Training Division, United States Army.

1944 – 1945Director, Office of Field Services, Office of Scientific Research and Development and Scientific Advisor to General MacArthur.

1945 – 1946Director, Pacific Branch, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1945 – 1946Chair, Research Board for National Security, National Academy of Sciences.

1946Awarded Presidential Medal for Merit.

1946 – 1947Chair, President's Advisory Commission on Universal Training.

1946 – 1948Member, Naval Research Advisory Committee.

1947Awarded Washington Award, Western Society of Engineers.

1947Awarded Public Welfare Medal, National Academy of Sciences.

1948Made Honorary Commander, Civil Division, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

1948Made a Knight Commander, the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

1948 – 1950Chair, United States Department of Defense, Research and Development Board.

1948 – 1954President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation, Cambridge (Mass.).

1949Awarded Lamme Medal, American Society for Engineering Education.

1950Awarded Hoover Medal jointly by four engineering societies.

1950Awarded William Proctor Prize for Scientific Achievement, Scientific Research Society of America.

1951Officer, French Legion of Honor.

1954Death, Washington (D.C.).

1954Awarded Priestley Memorial Award, Dickinson College.

Occupation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president and electronics physicist.

Places

Birth

Wooster (Ohio)

Undergraduate Education

Wooster (Ohio)

Graduate Education

Wooster (Ohio)

Princeton (N.J.)

Employment

Princeton (N.J.)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Washington (D.C.)

Subjects

Ionization of gases.

Nuclear warfare.

Photoelectricity.

Citations

Finding aid, Karl Taylor Compton Papers, 1906-1961, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Institute Archives and Special Collections.

Relationships

People

Family

Alderman, Mary Evelyn Compton

Daughter.

Boyce, Jean Compton

Daughter.

Compton, Arthur Allen

Nephew.

Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962

Brother.

Compton, Charles Arthur

Son.

Compton, Elias

Father.

Compton, John (John J.)

Nephew.

Compton, Margaret Hutchinson

Second wife, married in 1921.

Compton, Otelia Augspurger

Mother.

Compton, Rowena Raymond

First wife, married in June 1913. She passed away in 1919.

Compton, Wilson Martindale, 1890-1967

Brother.

Rice, Mary Compton

Sister.

Advisors & Collaborators

Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983

Advised by Compton at Princeton University. Barton credits Drs. Compton and Smyth for his study of physics and collaborated to form the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

Dodge, Homer L. (Homer Levi), 1887-1983

Collaborated in founding of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Eckart, Carl, 1902-1973

Advised by Compton at Princeton University, "Metastable helium and post-arc conductivity."

Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-

PhD student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when Compton was President. They later worked together to get a cyclotron at MIT for medical research.

Klopsteg, Paul E. (Paul Ernest), 1889-

Collaborated in founding of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985

Advised by Compton at Princeton University, "A theory of the electric discharge through gases;" and both employed at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Palmer, Frederic, 1878-1967

Collaborated in founding the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Richardson, O. W. (Owen Willans), 1879-1959

PhD adviser at Princeton University and co-wrote a few articles.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Advised by Compton at Princeton University on quantum theory. Both employed at Princeton University.

States, M. N. (Marshall Ney)

Collaborated in founding of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Webster, David Locke, 1888-1976

Collaborated in founding of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Zahn, C. T.

Advised by Compton at Princeton University on the electric moment of gaseous molecules of halogen hydrides.

Colleagues

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bleakney, Walker, 1901-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Burstein, Elias, 1917-2017

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

Worked together at the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Bush was Vice President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Compton.

Callen, Herbert B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Collins, Samuel C. (Samuel Cornette)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Both employed at Princeton University.

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Draper, C. S. (Charles Stark)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Edgerton, Harold Eugene, 1903-1990

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Eisenhart, Luther Pfahler, 1876-1965

Both employed at Princeton University.

Feshbach, Herman

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Hansen, W. W. (William Webster), 1909-1949

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haurwitz, Bernhard

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haworth, Leland J. (Leland John), 1904-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Hunsaker, Jerome C. (Jerome Clarke), 1886-1984

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Keyes, Frederick G. (Frederick George), 1885-1976

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Killian, T. J. (Thomas Joseph), 1905-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kirkwood, John Gamble, 1907-1959

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Klein, Martin J.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lin, C. C. (Chia-Chʻiao), 1916-2013

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Magie, William Francis, 1858-1943

Both employed at Princeton University.

Matthias, Bernd T., 1918-1980

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Pekeris, C. L. (Chaim Leib), 1908-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976

Compton brought Slater to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to run the Physics Department.

Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Spruch, Larry

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Starr, Chauncey

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stever, H. Guyford

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

Both employed at Princeton University.

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Both employed at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Additional

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Bowen, Harold Gardiner, 1883-1965

Bowles, Edward Lindley, 1897-1990

Curie, Marie, 1867-1934

Curie, Pierre, 1859-1906

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Goodwin, H. M. (Harry Manley), 1870-

Harrison, George Russell, 1898-1979

Correspondent and Compton's biographer.

Kelly, Harry C.

Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988

Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-

Loomis, Alfred L. (Alfred Lee), 1887-1975

Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Parsons, William Sterling, 1901-1953

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Both members of the American Physical Society (APS) and present at the founding of the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

Richtmyer, F. K. (Floyd Karker), 1881-1939

Robinson, Denis Morrell, 1907-

Shankland, Robert S., 1908-

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 1868-1951

Stuhlman, Otto, 1884-1965

Swann, W. F. G. (William Francis Gray), 1884-1962

Thomson, G. P. (George Paget), 1892-1975

Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967

Wiener, Norbert, 1894-1964

Institutions

Major Positions

College of Wooster

Obtained BS and MS and was instructor in chemistry.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

President of University and Corporation.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD, was Associate Professor of Physics, full Professor of Physics, held the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professorship, and was Chair of the Physics Department.

Reed College (Portland, Or.). Physics Department

Instructor in physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science

President.

American Association of Physics Teachers

Founding member.

American Chemical Society

American Institute of Physics

Chairman, first Governing Board.

American Philosophical Society

American Physical Society

Vice President and President.

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Member of the Advisory Board.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member and Chairman, Science Advisory Board.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Chair of the Physics subcommittee for the 1933 Chicago Exposition.

Optical Society of America

Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education (U.S.)

President.

United States. Joint Research and Development Board

Chairman.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Head of Division D and Director of Office of Field Services.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Invited papers on physics today [sound recording], 1951 October.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Karl T. Compton papers, 1906-1961.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Karl T. Compton speeches, 1939-1952.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Postcard to Albert M. Stone.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

AIP Office of the Director records of Henry A. Barton, 1931-1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

AIP Office of the Secretary records, 1931-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Alan Tower Waterman papers, 1918-1967 (bulk 1940-1963).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

APS Office of the Treasurer records of George B. Pegram, 1926-1957.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Arnold Sommerfeld papers ("New" Sommerfeld Nachlass), 1890-1950.

Deutsches Museum

Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany

Convocation on Science and Human Values records, 1952.

Archives and Special Collections

Mount Holyoke College

8 Dwight Hall, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075-6425, USA

Correspondence with K. T. Compton, Marie and Pierre Curie, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford, and J. J. Thomson.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Edward Lindley Bowles papers, 1869-1990 (bulk 1920-1982).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

F. W. Loomis papers, 1920-1976.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Francis Bitter papers, 1925-1967.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

George R. Harrison papers, 1916-1973.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Harold Gardiner Bowen papers, 1931-1965.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Harry Goodwin papers, 1888-1936.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Homer L. Dodge papers, 1852-1994 (bulk 1910-1960).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

John Bryant collection.

Archives

Historical Electronics Museum, Inc.

P. O. Box 746, M.S. 4015, Baltimore, MD 21203, USA

LBL Office of the Director records of Edwin M. McMillan, 1907-1991.

Pacific Sierra Region

National Archives and Records Administration

1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA

Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

MIT Office of the Chairman records, 1934-1987.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the Chancellor records, 1949-1957.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the President records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian, 1930-1959.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the Vice President records, 1932-1938.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Niels Bohr material collected elsewhere, 1912-1962.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Norbert Wiener papers, 1898-1966.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Office of Scientific Research and Development [OSRD], 1939-1950 (bulk 1939-1947).

Office of the National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration

8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, USA

Oral history interview with Arthur von Hippel, 1981 October 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Henry Eckart, 1962 May 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with David Locke Webster, 1963 January 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Denis Morrell Robinson, 1978 May 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edwin M. McMillan, 1972 June 1, 2, and October 30, 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edwin McMillan, 1972 June 1 and October 30.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Oral history interview with Frederic Palmer, Jr., 1963 January 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harry C. Kelly, 1975 October 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Henry A. Barton, 1970 March 3 and 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Homer Levi Dodge, 1963 January 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with James Brown Fisk, 1976 June 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Clarke Slater, 1970 February 23 and August 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Marshall Ney States, 1963 January 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Stuhlman, Jr., 1962 June 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul E. Klopsteg, 1970 March 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert S. Shankland, 1974 August 20 and 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robley D. Evans, 1972 May 2, 3, 1974 May 5 and 1978 June 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Sir George Paget Thomson, 1963 June 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Hunter McCrea, 1978 September 22.n

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Papers of physicists and astronomers in Hoover Library, 1918-1965.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

West Branch, IA 52358, USA

Phillip M. Morse autobiographical data, circa 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Reed College Physics Department histories, 2000-2005.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert A. Millikan papers, 1821-1953.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Robert Millikan papers [microform], 1821-1953.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert Van de Graaff papers, 1928-1948 (bulk 1943-1946).

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Transcripts of tributes to Elihu Thomson presented at the American Philosophical Society and the Franklin Institute by former associates, 1939.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1901-1974.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

William Francis Gray Swann papers, 1903-1962.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

William Sterling Parsons papers, 1943-1953.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Published Resources

Author

A scientist speaks : excerpts from addresses by Karl Taylor Compton during the years 1930-1949 when he was president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Critical potentials / by K.T. Compton and F.L. Mohler.

Critical potentials [microform] / by K.T. Compton and F.L. Mohler.

Scientists face the world of 1942 : essays / by Karl T. Compton, Robert W. Trullinger, Vannevar Bush.

Subject

Karl T. Compton Physics Today obituary