Maury Albertson, a professor of civil engineering at Colorado State University and co-founder of the Peace Corps, died this past weekend at age 90. Albertson leaves a lengthy legacy at the school and around the globe for his humanitarian work.
“We need to be motivated by service as well as by profit,” Albertson once said. “We serve best by finding out what people want and helping them work to realize their dreams, not by going into a country and telling villagers what they need.”
Albertson specialized in water research and served as a consultant to the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the Agency for International Development, UNESCO and other agencies. He was the director of a congressional study that led to the creation of the Peace Corps. He also directed a project that led to establishment of the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, and helped develop Colorado State’s International Institute for Sustainable Development and Village Earth.
You can read more about Albertson in a press release from the school.
