Karl Taylor Compton
Karl Taylor Compton was born on September 14, 1887. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Karl Taylor Compton
Karl Taylor Compton (September 14, 1887 – June 22, 1954) was an American physicist and president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1930 to 1948. A researcher in electron physics and early experimenter on the photoelectric effect, Compton spent two decades at Princeton University before accepting the MIT presidency, where he transformed what had been primarily an engineering school into a research university with strong programs in basic science. At MIT, Compton recruited leading scientists, created a School of Science, and centralized the Institute's relationship with industry, establishing one of the first university patent licensing programs. Working closely with Vice President Vannevar Bush, Compton expanded financial support for research and increased faculty autonomy from industrial sponsors. Outside MIT, Compton advocated strenuously for science funding. He was the founding chairman of the American Institute of Physics and chaired President Roosevelt's Science Advisory Board. With the New England Council, he helped lay the groundwork for the modern venture capital industry. Compton forged new links between universities and the military establishment. During the Second World War, Compton was a founding member of the National Defense Research Committee, chairing the radar and detection research project. He oversaw the establishment of the MIT Radiation Laboratory, the first major federal research contract with a university and one of the largest R&D projects of the war. He led a radar coordination mission to the United Kingdom in 1943 and was chief of the Office of Scientific Research and Development's Office of Field Service, deploying civilian scientists to combat theaters. He served on the Interim Committee that advised President Truman on the use of the atomic bomb, and later publicly defended the decision in a widely discussed Atlantic Monthly article. As scientific advisor to General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific, he entered Tokyo among the first Americans after the Japanese surrender. After the war, Compton co-founded the American Research and Development Corporation, widely regarded as the first modern venture capital firm. He chaired President Truman's commission on universal military training and led the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense before ill health forced his retirement in 1949. He served as chairman of the MIT Corporation from 1948 until his death. He remained active as a trustee of the Ford, Rockefeller, and Sloan Foundations until his death at sixty-six.