Karl Taylor Compton (14.09.1887-22.06.1954) was an American physicist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He was the brother of A. Compton. He was born in Wooster. He graduated from the College of Wooster (1909) and in 1912 received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Princeton. In 1915 —30 he worked at Princeton (professor from 1919), and in 1930—48 he was president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His research was in the fields of thermoelectricity, the physics of crystals, X-ray structural analysis, the photoelectric effect, thermionic emission and ionisation.
President of the American Physical Society (1927-29). The B. Rumford (1931) and J. Priestley (1954) Medals.