CSU Founders Day Recognizes VE Co-Founder

On Feb. 10 and 11, Colorado State University celebrated it’s creation on the same date in 1870 through it’s annual Founder’s Day Celebration. During this year’s Founders Day celebration, Maury Albertson was recognized posthumously as the second recipient of the Founders Day Medal. The medal was presented to his widow, Audrey Olsen Faulkner, for his great contributions to the university. Albertson, co-founder of Village Earth and a Centennial Emeritus Professor, served Colorado State as the first director of the Colorado State University Research Foundation, or CSURF; director of International Programs; and professor of civil engineering. One of Albertson’s most recognized contributions was his critical role in the formation of the Peace Corps. Albertson arrived at Colorado A&M – now CSU – in August 1947 to help bolster the Department of Civil Engineering’s civil engineering and hydraulics programs. By 1958, Albertson had moved from being a professor in the college to overseeing all research projects on campus. In 1960-1961, Albertson was the director of the U.S. Congressional study on the Point 4 Youth Corps, which led to creation of the Peace Corps. “Professor Albertson will be remembered as one of the truly great figures in the history of Colorado State University,” said Colorado State’s President Tony Frank. “It was primarily because of his work as a professor that CSU attracted and graduated its first doctoral student and assumed its full role and responsibility as a research university. He was an innovative teacher and scholar who dedicated his life to improving the living conditions of people around the world and who helped create, through the Peace Corps, a vehicle through which generations of young people have channeled their compassion and commitment into useful and important work for developing communities. CSU is grateful and honored to have been Professor Albertson’s academic home.”