EARTH mourns the loss of two founding members of our Board of Directors

Filed Under: EARTH News
Date: December 7th, 2011

In recent months, EARTH University has mourned the loss of two Costa Rican leaders who were fundamental in EARTH’s history: Mr. Rodolfo Cortés who passed away on November 17 and Dr. Hernán Fonseca on September 29.

Don Rodolfo was a visionary agricultural entrepreneur. As a business leader, he identified the need to establish an educational institution that prepared agricultural professionals with not only solid technical and scientific knowledge but also with a strong entrepreneurial foundation and environmental commitment that would enable them to become leaders in their countries. He developed this idea and shared it with others who had the same concerns and dreams, putting into motion the creation of EARTH. His passion for EARTH’s mission kept him closely connected to the institution’s leadership as a member of the Board of Directors from 1987-2001, its first president and later as Emeritus Director. Up until his final days he was in contact with the University.

Dr. Fonseca was a humble man and an example of honesty and nobility who always inspired a positive outlook among those who had the privilege of working with him. Dr. Fonseca was Agricultural Minister in the government of President Rodrigo Carazo (1978-1982) and served for many years as a highly distinguished professor of animal nutrition at the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Costa Rica. He served as a member of EARTH’s Board of Directors for 20 years from 1989-2009, holding the presidency for three terms, and later as emeritus director. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from EARTH University.

EARTH extends its most sincere condolences to the Cortés and Fonseca families.