William H. Pickens III

When Bill was President of the Grad Students at UNM, I was the undergrad Vice president. It was an tumultous time, and we worked together to return order and restart classes. In saw him last when invited for dinner, maybe 1986-7. I'll always remember the ABQ drive in, all 3 spaghetti westerns and a jug of Gold Cadillacs.

So sorry to belated learn of Bill´s passing. I was a student of his when he was a TA/Lecturer at UCDavis. From there we developed a friendship of many years. During my 7 years of college, he was easily the best lecturer I ever had. Smart, organized, incisive, inspiring, and caring. He literally got me my first job after college at the California Postsecondary Education Commission. Over a decade later we reconnected when I was a senior staffer and he was a board member of the Association of...

My warmest condolences to Bill´s family. Bill was a member of my dissertation committee at Berkeley. Colleen Nickles

Bill was one of my dissertation advisors at Berkeley. He was smart, articulate, and caring. My condolences to his family.

Bill was always dedicated to education and helping people feel comfortable with the process of learning. I remember when he was at Sac State and the Chair of the ADTAC -technology committee. One person on the committee said he felt like he could not contribute because he new nothing about technology. Bill told him, its okay, some are here to learn and others to participate. His way explaining committee members roles helped the person feel like part of the team. Thats would Bill would, be...

I have read Bill Pickens' MA thesis several times, and always found it very helpful for my research on a variety of New Mexican institutions in the 1930s. No one has written anything better, even after almost 50 years. I assume that Bill worked with Gerald Nash of the UNM history department, as did I. One can tell the influence of Nash in Bill's research and writing. It is not surprising that he had such success in California as a scholar.