Media Contact:WASHINGTON, DC, April 28, 2001-Jorge Manuel Dengo-Obregon, a Costa Rican civil engineer and the country's former vice president today received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Public Works from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Presented at the second annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award gala, the award distinguishes Dengo-Obregon as a civil engineering hero for his more than 50 years of public service in engineering and economic development throughout Central America.Jill Dixon
703-295-6404
jdixon@asce.org
Heather Simpson-Balboa
202-326-5144
"Jorge's illustrious career in public works is a testament to the versatility and creativity civil engineers possess as leaders," said ASCE President Robert W. Bein, P.E. "Having worked in South American countries from his native Costa Rica to Brazil and Argentina, he is one of the finest public servants the engineering community has known."
"I am confounded to be recognized as a hero out of so many outstanding professionals," said Jorge Manuel Dengo-Obregon. "I alone cannot accept this award. I accept the award on behalf of all of my colleagues."
After graduating with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1943, Dengo-Obregon returned to his native Costa Rica to begin a career in public service.
He started as a municipal engineer for the city of Heredia, but was soon contracted to be a major player in the creation and management of the Costa Rican Power Authority. He successfully developed and launched a program that brought electricity and telecommunications to over 80 percent of his country within 10 years.
Later, while working on the development of Costa Rica's fertilizer industry in 1963, Dengo-Obregon was recruited by then President Francisco José Orlich Bolmarich to manage the crisis situation created by the eruption of the Irazú volcano. Dengo-Obregon successfully responded by forming the National Civil Defense Office, which still exists today as the National Emergency Commission.
The position that has brought him the most public recognition was his election as vice president of Costa Rica under Nobel Prize-winning president Oscar Arias in 1986. His chief duties during his four-year term involved restructuring the economic policy and debt-negotiations.
In 1994, Dengo-Obregon returned once again to the National Emergency Commission where he structurally reorganized its networks and resources, and developed training programs for personnel to better serve Costa Rica's rural communities. Jorge Manuel Dengo-Obregon now sits on the Board of Directors for Costa Rica's new agricultural college, Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda, San José, Costa Rica.
The OPAL awards honor professional civil engineers for lifelong contributions in five categories - public works, construction, management, design and education. The first OPAL awards were inaugurated in April 2000.
Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 123,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.
