Compton, Karl Taylor

Compton, Karl Taylor, 1887–1954, American physicist, b. Wooster, Ohio, grad. College of Wooster (Ph.B., 1908), Princeton (Ph.D., 1912); brother of A. H. Compton. He taught at Princeton from 1915 to 1930 (as professor from 1919) and was president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1930–48). From 1948 to 1949 he was chairman of the research and development board of the National Military Establishment. He did notable research on photoelectricity, radar, ionization of gases, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and electric arcs.