[1] He graduated from Stockton High School as class valedictorian in 1942,[2] and from UC Berkeley with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1945.

After a short stint in the Naval Reserve and an assignment to Okinawa, Japan, during World War II, he commenced studies at Berkeley during the fall of 1946, and graduated with an MS in Civil Engineering in 1948.

[3][4] When Pister was hired at UC Berkeley in 1952, he initially conducted research on material properties of Portland Cement Concrete and the behavior of torpedo nets.

[4] A distinguished alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[3] Pister was appointed Dean of the College of Engineering in 1980, a position he held for ten years.

[4] During his tenure, the university experiences various challenges, including budget cuts due to the recession, the UC Regents' divisive stance on affirmative action, tense university-community relationships, and conflicts over campus development projects.