Mauricio Herman

Mauricio Mario Herman Stava “Mo” to his family and friends, an economist born in Lima, Peru in 1930 of Czech parents, died on July 18th, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida.  Mo was predeceased by his first wife, Gloria Campbell Herman and his brother, Emilio (Elizabeth) Herman.  He is survived by his second wife of 26 years, Kathleen Cass Herman, his daughter, Maureen Alarcon of Palmetto, Florida, and her daughter, Gloria Alarcon and grandson, Keller Williamson; his son, John with his wife, Wendy from San Diego, California and there three children; Lars and Jenna (Bodie, Tess, Jones); Ian; and Sean who also reside in California; and his son, Mario with his wife, Heli and five children, residents of Maryland, Virginia and Helsinki, Finland: Damaris (Ryan) Kinney and son, Will, Caroline Herman and daughter, Cecilia, Felice Herman, and Gregory (Julia) Herman, and Anthony Herman.  From his second marriage to Kathleen, Maurico had three step-children; Rebecca (Anton Christiansen) Hannon and Asher, residents of Canada, Stephanie Hannon of Utah and Patrick Hannon (Owen, Graham and Henry) of Oregon.  He also leaves behind his brother, Bohuslav a long time resident of Rotterdam in the Netherlands as well as his cherished nieces, nephews, and cousins in Europe and Peru.  Additionally he leaves behind his Cass family sisters and brothers-in-law and his beloved nieces and nephews.
Mr. Herman earned his undergraduate degree at the age of 18, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) “cum laude”, at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, thanks to a tuition scholarship from the Rotary Club of Miami.  He completed his academic education at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, where he was awarded his doctorate in Economic Science.  While helping run the family business, he started teaching economics at this Catholic University and also at the National University of Engineering.  In 1961 he became a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, and in 1962 joined the professional staff of the recently established Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC.
For the next 27 years, Mauricio occupied diverse professional and executive positions at the IADB, and until retirement in 1989.  During his stay at the bank, he had the opportunity to travel repeatedly to all the American countries (with the exception of (Surinam) and to a handful of Western European countries.  He devoted himself to development projects that improved the quality of life through access to clean water and improved agriculture practices.  Later his love of education led him to start teaching at the area universities, starting at Johns Hopkins, American University, and later on, George Mason University.  Upon retirement, he pursued his dual love of teaching and traveling, accepting lecturing and consulting engagements particularly in those countries he had not visited before.  He was hired as a professor of International Economic Development and Geography by the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester-at-Sea program, which took him and his first wife, Gloria around the world.  Other engagements allowed visits to China, Saudi Arabia as well as Romania.  All told with additional personal travel, he had been to over 100 countries when he died.  He also volunteered in the community organizations in Virginia and Florida where his financial expertise was valued.
He and his wife, Kathleen retired to Palmetto, to Florida’s West Coast in 2010.  Initially, he continued teaching in The Lifelong Learning program at USF, Sarasota/Bradenton until age 85.  He also was a speaker at Rotary Clubs where he was also a member: Reston/Herndon, VA, Ocean City, MD and the Bradenton, FL clubs.  He published an autobiography book entitled “Caught in Between” in which he asked his family that his final request was to be remembered by this quotation “Here lies a man who throughout his life, tried to be fair.”  He will be greatly missed by his extended family.