Charles Egolf Clifton (March 23, 1904–October 7, 1976) was an American microbiologist. He was a faculty member at Stanford University for forty years, authored two textbooks, and was the editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Microbiology for twenty-five years.

Charles Egolf Clifton was born on March 23, 1904, in Etna, Licking County, Ohio^[1] to parents Lulu née Egolf and Allen Benton Clifton. He had one sister, Margaret Kuhn.^[2] He graduated from the Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in 1925 and a master's degree in physical chemistry in 1926.^[1][3]

Clifton attended the University of Minnesota for his PhD, graduating in 1928.^[4] He said that he received the first PhD in biophysics awarded in the US.^[3]

After graduating, Clifton worked at Kodak's research laboratories for several months.^[3] Clifton was an instructor at the University of Minnesota before getting hired by Stanford University in 1929 to teach bacteriology.^[5] In 1936 and 1937, he took a sabbatical leave from Stanford to do research at Cambridge University with Marjory Stephenson and in Delft, Netherlands with Albert Kluyver.^[6][3] World War II labor shortages caused him to agree to teach microbiology courses at San Jose State University.^[3] His research included new ways to manufacture penicillin. He also authored the textbooks An Introduction to the Bacteria and An Introduction to Bacterial Physiology. He was a member of several scientific societies, including the American Society of Microbiologists, the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, and Sigma Xi. From 1969 to his death in 1976, he was a professor emeritus in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Stanford.^[7]

He was the first editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Microbiology, which was first published in 1947. He remained editor through 1972 and was succeeded by Mortimer P. Starr.^[8]

Charles Clifton married Esther Ora née Carlson of Bruce, South Dakota, on September 7, 1932.^[1] He and Esther had two sons, Charles Jr. and John.^[7] During the 1950s, he had two major surgeries; while recovering from the second surgery, he began painting with watercolors as a hobby.^[3] He also enjoyed gardening.^[7] He died on October 7, 1976, in Santa Clara, California.^[9][7]