over the design and construction of major buildings and infrastructure by local firms following the departure of mainly US companies, and given further impulse following the recommendations of a number of reports, such as the World Bank's 'Currie Mission' of 1950. Political career He was elected Councilor of Bogotá in 1972-1974, and more importantly as Governor of the Province of Cundinamarca in 1972-1974, appointed by President Misael Pastrana Borrero (1970-1974). As Governor he pushed through a major administrative reform including the creation of six posts of ‘Deputy Governors’ to coordinate the work of (appointed) municipal mayors, and the creation in 1974 of the pioneering Cundinamarca Forestry Corporation with the aim of addressing the rapid deterioration of the province’s natural resources. As a diplomat he represented Colombia firstly at the White House as Plenipotentiary Minister (Chargé d'Affaires) at the Colombian Embassy in Washington DC in 1975-1977, and later as Colombian Ambassador to Spain and Kuwait (in a non-resident capacity) in 1981-1983. Recognition He was twice President of the Society of Colombian Engineers (1960 and 1961). He was founder and President of the Construction Chamber of Colombia (1967-1972), where he lobbied the Colombian government to include construction as an economic sector in the national accounts. He was President of the Bankers' Association of Colombia (1978-1981), acting Director of Bouwcentrum Colombia (1969), member of the Board of Directors of Bogotá’s Telecommunications Company (ETB), Colombia’s National Railways, Universidad de la sabana, founder of the INALDE Business School and President and Board Member of Bogotá’s elite Jockey Club. Publications He published on national issues of urban land reform, tax reform, the construction industry, and forestry, drawing on his experience of nearly six decades of farming and reforesting farmland he purchased in 1950 in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia. “Por un alza del jornal mínimo agrícola. Un análisis crítico de la reforma agraria”. Supplement, Revista Semana, 17 March 1959 (co-authored with Enrique Liévano Ricaurte). “Estatuto Nacional de la Construcción y el Urbanismo. Bases para una Reforma Urbana”, Boletín Informativo Camacol, July 1969. “Influencia y Perspectivas de la Ingeniería en Colombia”, Anales de Ingeniería Vol. LXIV, June 1960. “Renta Presuntiva frente a un Impuesto Territorial”, Revista Nacional de Ganadería No. 1, 1 May 1965. “Estudio Económico del Desarrollo de una Ganadería Santa Gertrudis en pequeña escala”, Revista Nacional de Ganadería, No. 2, Vol.1, June 1965. “Estudio de un método de incentivos para depositarios de ganado de