Arthur Holly Compton

Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and university teacher born in Wooster in 1892. He worked in the fields of atomic, nuclear, and theoretical physics. His professional career included positions at Washington University in St. Louis, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Chicago. He participated in the Manhattan Project.

Compton received the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Hughes Medal, and the Matteucci Medal. He was educated at the College of Wooster, Princeton University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Chicago, where his doctoral advisor was Owen Willans Richardson. He was a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

He died in Berkeley in 1962. His sibling was Karl Taylor Compton. He spoke English. His work is recognized in the Nobel Laureates collection, the Nobel Physics collection, and the American Academy Arts Sciences collection.