An analytical investigation of dynamic compressor characteristics was conducted with the goal to make fundamental improvements in the modeling of dynamic compressor stage characteristics. It was determined that present state-of-the-art in modeling dynamic compressor stage characteristics is the use of steady-state characteristics derived from flow model calculations, with first-order time lag response functions applied to account for dynamic departures from the steady and quasi-steady performance predictions. This investigation developed a blade frequency response function (FRF) method for describing the dynamic blade response. Once the frequency response function of a blade row has been determined, any time or spatially dependent, non-uniform flow can be applied and the model will predict the dynamic blade response. The first step of this research was to develop FRFs based on first-order lag equations and to test the method using these simple transfer functions. The next step was to develop FRFs based on a dynamic blade lift model for a simple, idealized compressor blade row model. It was found that chord length has a strong influence on the FRF, which is related to the fluid transport time through the blade passage. The final step was to incorporate experimental data obtained from a study of dynamic wake response of an isolated rotor. It was assumed that the wake response was well correlated with the dynamic lift response of a blade row. It was found that aerodynamic loading, distortion strength, and span position all influence the frequency response functions, which differ greatly from simple first-order lag equations. It was determined that a number of FRFs are needed to describe the dynamic blade response accurately. / Master of Science