Dale L. Compton

Dale Leonard Compton (born June 1935) is an American aerospace engineer. He was the sixth director of NASA's Ames Research Center, serving from 1989 to 1994.

Early life and education Compton earned a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from Stanford University in 1957, where he was a member of Sigma Nu. He was a Sloan Fellow at MIT from 1974 to 1975 and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1986.

Career Compton joined Ames Research Center as a research scientist studying aerodynamics. His early work studied ablation and aerothermodynamic effects on ballistic missiles. He was a scientist for fifteen years, contributing to Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and the Apollo program.

In the mid-1970s, Compton entered management, serving as deputy director for astronautics. He was later appointed chief of the space science division and manager of the IRAS telescope project office. He was also made director of engineering and computer systems at Ames and named deputy director to William F. Ballhaus Jr. in 1985. He resumed the position on July 15, 1989, and was formally appointed director on December 20, 1989, the fiftieth anniversary of the center's founding by Smith J. DeFrance.

He was considered conservative in his vision for Ames by some at NASA, and even a "tunnel hugger" for believing that Ames' standing at NASA was dependent on its wind tunnel flight research.

In the early 1990s, with the fall of the Soviet Union and reduction in budget for space research, Compton led the center against efforts to have Ames shut down. He said "Ames has never had a secure place [at NASA]. All directors have tried to secure a place; some have succeeded, some not. My years as director were not easy." He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Presidential Rank Award (1984) NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (1984)