George Edward Pendray

Infobox Person
name =George Edward Pendray


image_size =100px
caption =
birth_date =birth date|1901|05|19|df=y
birth_place = Omaha, Nebraska
known_for = public relations, "time capsule"
death_date = 15 September 1987
death_place = Cranbury, New Jersey
occupation = public relations counsel, author, rocketeer, business executive
spouse = Leatrice M. Gregory
parents = John Hall Pendray / Louisa (Wolfe)

George Edward Pendray was an American public relations counselor, author, foundation executive, and an early advocate of rockets and spaceflight. cite web|url= http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/eadGetDoc.xq?id=/ead/mudd/publicpolicy/MC105.EAD.xml|title= Princeton University Library - G. Edward Pendray Papers, 1829-1981 (bulk 1923-1971)|accessdate= 2008-06-28]

Early life

Pendray was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1901. He grew up in Niobrara County, Wyoming. Who Was Who in America, Vol 9 ] His parents were John Hall Pendray and Louisa (Wolfe) Pendray. Pendray attended the University of Wyoming, graduating in 1924. He then went to Columbia University, where he received a Master's degree in 1925. His first marriage was to Leatrice M. Gregory on June 27, 1927; their three daughters were Guenever Pendray Knapp, Elaine Pendray Jennings, and Lynette Pendray Wertsch.

Middle life

Pendray's first career job was as an editor at the "New York Herald-Tribune" after completing his graduate work at Columbia University in 1925. He worked at the Tribune for seven years. Pendray was a science fiction enthusiast and applied that interest as a science editor for "Literary Digest" from 1932 to 1936 . He then hired in at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company as assistant to the president in 1936. While working there one of his responsibilities was public relations in advance of the 1939 New York World's Fair. He came up with what he coined a "time capsule", preserving contemporary everyday items like motion pictures in a sealed container for future historians. [New York Times, August 19, 1938, page 21] Pendray happened to have created the word "laundromat" as well for Westinghouse. cite web|url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_10_108/ai_58360832|title= The Way We Are - time capsules - Brief Article|accessdate= 2008-06-28]

Career

Pendray's primary employment was in the field of public relations, however always maintained an interest in early rocketry. He was an early experimenter with liquid propulsion rockets. Pendray was a contemporary of Robert H. Goddard, whose posthumous papers he edited with Goddard's widow. With his associates he worked at the beginnings of rocket development and technology. It led to his founding of the American Interplanetary Society (ARS) in 1930. This organization is now the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). It awards the "G. Edward Pendray Award" in recognition of his achievements.

Later life

Pendray helped develop the Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center at the California Institute of Technology and the Guggenheim Laboratories at Princeton University in 1948. He also helped develop the Guggenheim Institute of Flight Structures at Columbia University. He was also a consultant to the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration of the House of Representatives in 1958. Pendray had a hand in the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Pendray's first wife died on October 7, 1971. He remarried to Annice D. Crema on October 30, 1972. Pendray died in Cranbury, New Jersey, on September 15, 1987.

Titles

* Reporter Laramie, Wyoming "Republic Boomerang," 1923-24

* "New York Herald-Tribune" reporter, 1925-30, picture editor, 1930-32, science editor, 1932-33

* Co-founder of Pendray and Company, a public relations firm, 1945-47. Senior partner, 1948-70

* Science editor for Literary Digest writing science fiction stories, 1933-36

* Assistant to the president of Westinghouse Electric Company, 1936-45

* Public relations counsel to over 100 corporations and organizations among some being Great Northern Paper Company, Westinghouse Electric Company, Americam Machine & Foundry Company, Harry F. Guggenheim Foundation, the World Bank, the American Automobile Association, the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada, Canadian Westinghouse, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, American Electric Power, Brookhaven National Labatories, and Stanford Research Institution.

Education

* Jireh College, Wyoming 1917 (non-existent).

*University of Wyoming, graduated in 1924.

* Columbia University - Master's degree 1925.

* Doctor of Laws from University of Wyoming 1943.

Works

Penray often used the pen name "Gawain Edwards", however used his own name in most works. He also wrote articles and fiction in many magazines.

* "The Earth Tube," 1929

* "A Rescue From Jupiter’’, 1932

* "Men, Mirrors and Stars,’’ 1935

* "The Coming Age of Rocket Power," 1945

* "The Guggenheim Medalists", (1964)

* "Book of Record of the Time Capsule," 1938

* "City Noise," 1940, (with Esther Goddard)

* "Rocket Development" (1948). Co-editors Robert Goddard and Esther Goddard.

* "The Papers of Robert H. Goddard," 3 volumes, 1970; co-edited with Esther Goddard.

References

Bibliography

* "Who Was Who in America," Vol. 9 (1985-1989), p. 280. Chicago: Marquis, "Pendray, George Edward"
* "New York Times" Biographical Service, September 1987, p. 958
* "Contemporary Authors," vol. 123 (1988), p. 299
* "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" (1993), p. 919-920
* "Collier's magazine," September 7, 1946, p. 89

Obituary

* Obituary in the "New York Times" of September 20, 1987, said,cquote|"Born May 19, 1901, in Omaha, Neb.; died of complications from Parkinson's disease, September 15, 1987. Public relations counselor, corporate executive, journalist, editor, and author. Founder of the American Rocket Society, which later joined the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Pendray was an advocate of peaceful uses of rocket power, such as space exploration, mail transport, and high-altitude photography and mapping. From 1925 to 1933 Pendray worked for the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter and, later, science editor, and he subsequently served other publications as an editor. He joined Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in 1936 as assistant to the president, and while there he helped develop the annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Nine years later he opened his own industrial public relations firm, Pendray & Company, where he remained as a senior partner until 1971. Under the pseudonym Gawain Edwards he wrote The Earth-Tube, and under various forms of his name he wrote Men, Mirrors, and Stars: The Coming Age of Rocket Power; and The Story of the Time Capsule. He edited City Noise and, with Esther C. Goddard, The Papers of Robert H. Goddard."
Persondata
NAME = George Edward Pendray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = G. Edward Pendray
SHORT DESCRIPTION = public relations, rocketeer
DATE OF BIRTH = 19 May 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH = Omaha, Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH = 15 September 1987
PLACE OF DEATH = Cranbury, New Jersey