William Thomas Pecora II (February 1, 1913 – July 19, 1972) was an American geologist who served as 8th Director of the U.S. Geological Survey and later as Under Secretary of the Interior.

[6] In the summer of 1934, Pecora was a field assistant to Erling Dorf, studying stratigraphy in Montana and at the Beartooth Butte Formation.

Foster Hewett, head of the metals section at the USGS, frequently visited Harvard until the outbreak of World War II.

Hewett established the Strategic Minerals Program, and recruited Pecora, who was assigned to study nickeliferous deposits in the western United States and in Brazil, among other locations in North and South America.

Garnierite in the nickel-silicate deposit near Riddle, Oregon, had three modes of occurrence, reflecting an orderly variation in color, specific gravity, and nickel content, which serve as useful guides for economic geologists.Pecora married Ethelwyn Elizabeth Carter of Franklin County, Kentucky, on April 7, 1947.

As director, he pressed for programs that would be responsive to emerging national problems, such as investigations of gold resources and off-shore oil and gas exploration.

From 1947 to 1967 he was a member of the United States Civil Service Commission's Board of Examiners for Geology, concerned with the development and maintenance of standards in the selection of geologists for federal employment.

A statement from president Nixon called him "a remarkable civil servant and an internationally respected figure in the scientific community".

It is presented annually to individuals or groups that make outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing.