Arthur Compton was born on September 10, 1892, in Wooster, Ohio, the son of Elias and Otelia Catherine (née Augspurger) Compton, who was named American Mother of the Year in 1939. They were an academic family. Elias was dean of the University of Wooster (later The College of Wooster), which Arthur also attended. Arthur's eldest brother, Karl, who also attended Wooster, earned a PhD in physics from Princeton University in 1912, and was President of MIT from 1930 to 1948. His second brother Wilson likewise attended Wooster, earned his PhD in economics from Princeton in 1916 and was President of the State College of Washington, later Washington State University from 1944 to 1951. All three brothers were members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.