Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Notes
Jean Felix Piccard
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1884, Jan. 28 | Born, Basel, Switzerland |
| 1907 | Technical chemist degree, chemical engineering, Swiss Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1909 | D.Sc., organic chemistry, Swiss Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1910-1914 | Private assistant to Adolf von Baeyer and Privatdocent, University of Munich, Munich, Germany |
| 1914-1916 | Privatdocent, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. |
| 1915 | Served in Swiss Army lighter-than-air service |
| 1916-1919 | Associate professor, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1919 | Married Jeannette Ridlon |
| 1919-1926 | Professor of chemistry, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| 1924-1926 | Consulting chemist, Calco Chemical Co., Bound Brook, N.J. |
| 1926-1929 | Research instructor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1929-1932 | Head, Organic Research Department, Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, Del. |
| 1931 | Naturalized United States citizen |
| 1933-1936 | Research associate, Bartol Research Foundation, Swarthmore, Pa. |
| 1933 | Codesigner with his brother Auguste Piccard, stratospheric gondola Century of Progress, constructed by the Dow Chemical Corp. for the Chicago World's Fair |
| 1934 | Ascended into stratosphere in aerostat piloted by Jeannette Piccard to study cosmic rays, Ford Airport, Dearborn, Mich. |
| 1934 | Developed and patented a plaster cast penetrable by X-rays |
| 1936-1952 | Professor of aeronautical engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1936-1937 | Developed and launched unmanned, taped plastic-film balloons Piloted Pleiades, an aerostat held aloft by a cluster of ninety-eight sounding balloons |
| 1941-1945 | Taught United States Navy officers in aeronautical program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1945 | Served three months at the German Air Documents Research Center, London, England |
| 1946 | Participated in development of the United States Navy's Helios project, a multiple balloon aerostat for stratospheric exploration |
| 1952 | Professor emeritus, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1963, Jan. 28 | Died, Minneapolis, Minn. |
Jeannette Ridlon Piccard
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1895, Jan. 5 | Born, Chicago, Illinois |
| 1918 | A.B., Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. |
| 1919 | M.A., organic chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1919 | Married Jean Felix Piccard |
| 1934 | Licensed spherical balloon pilot, National Aeronautic Association Piloted aerostat into stratosphere with Jean Piccard to study cosmic rays, Ford Airport, Dearborn, Mich. |
| 1942 | Ph.D., education, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1943 | Executive secretary, housing section, Minnesota Office of Civil Defense |
| 1947 | Aeronautical consultant, General Mills, Inc. |
| 1961-1965 | President, board of directors, St. Paul's Episcopal Day School, St. Paul, Minn. |
| 1964-1970 | Consultant to director, Manned Spacecraft Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| 1968-1981 | Honorary member, board of trustees, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill. |
| 1971 | Ordained deacon, Episcopal Church Curate, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, St. Paul, Minn. |
| 1973 | Certificate of Study, General Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y. |
| 1974 | “Irregular” ordination as priest, Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1977 | Ordination as priest officially recognized by Episcopal Church |
| 1981, May 17 | Died, Minneapolis, Minn. |
Genealogy Chart, Piccard Family
- Jules Piccard, m. Hélène (Haltenhoff)
- Auguste, m. Marianne (Denis)
- Denise
- Jacques, m. Marie-Claude
- Marianne
- Hélène
- Geneviève
- Jean Felix, m. Jeannette (Ridlon)
- John A., m. Marilyn, m. Mary Ann
- Paul J., m. Betty
- Donald L., m. Joan, m. Wilma
- Marie, m. Paul Rambert
- Paul, m. Marguerite
- Auguste, m. Marianne (Denis)
Genealogy Chart, Ridlon Family
- John Ridlon, m. Emily (Robinson)
- Jeannette, m. Jean Felix Piccard
- John A., m. Marilyn, m. Mary Ann
- Paul J., m. Betty
- Donald L., m. Joan, m. Wilma
- Beatrice (d. 1898)
- Noel
- Margaret, m. Dirk Van Ingen
- Hester, m. J. L. Hempstead
- Hugh O. T., m. Alice (?)
- John Robert, m. Edith
- Jeannette, m. Jean Felix Piccard