Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Office of the Director.

William H. Pickering was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on December 24, 1910. After one year at the University of New Zealand, he entered Caltech in 1929. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1932, his Master of Science degree in Physics in 1933, and his Doctorate in Physics in 1936, all from Caltech. After graduation, he joined the Caltech faculty, becoming a full professor of electrical engineering in 1946.

Pickering joined JPL in 1944. He was named chief of the Remote Control Section. Beginning in 1949, Pickering headed the Corporal and Sergeant missile programs, and in 1954 he succeeded Louis Dunn as Laboratory Director. In November 1957, JPL and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were directed to prepare and orbit an artificial satellite, in the wake of the launching of Sputnik, and the failure of the American Vanguard satellite. Explorer 1, the first U.S. artificial satellite, was launched on January 31, 1958.

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