Robert Crompton was born on 9 June 1926 in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1949 he completed a Bachelor of Science at University of Adelaide and graduated with honours and in 1954 he completed his PhD at the University of Adelaide. He was a Lecturer in Physics from 1950 to 1958 then Senior Lecturer from 1959 to 1960 at the University of Adelaide where he formed a small research group, which was invited to join the newly formed Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University in Canberra. He commenced with the Australian National University as a Senior Fellow on 1 March 1961, and was responsible for setting up and running of the Electron and Ion Diffusion Unit. In 1977 he became a Professorial Fellow. On 10 July 1981 the Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories were formed within the Research School of Physical Sciences, comprising the Diffusion Research Unit, the Electron and Ion Diffusion Unit and the Ultraviolet Physics Unit, and he accepted appointment as the Head of Laboratories on 4 August 1981. On 31 October 1991 he retired from the Australian National University.