Pauling was born and grew-up in Oregon, USA. He went to Oregon Agricultural College and graduated in 1922 with a degree in chemical engineering. Pauling then went to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he received his Ph. D in physical chemistry and mathematical physics in 1925. Two years later, he became an assistant professor at Caltech, and he completed his academic career there after many decades on the faculty. He was a Unitarian.