John Compton

John J. Compton, who taught philosophy at Vanderbilt University for more than four decades, served as department chair from 1967 to 1973 and from 1994 to 1995 and as acting chair on five other occasions. Born in Chicago, Compton earned his achelor's degree in mathematics from the College of Wooster and his master's and doctorate in philosophy from Yale University. His father, Arthur Compton, won the Nobel Prize in physics for helping to develop the first self-sustaining atomic chain reaction, resulting in the controlled release of nuclear energy.