Dr Alberto Sofia
26 November 2009Dr Alberto Sofia retired at the end of June 2009 having served a long career with the Argentine Leather Research Centre (CITEC) spanning 57 years. During this time he made many friends in the leather industry and at other academic institutions around the world. Sofia has been instrumental in developing and encouraging new leather technologies within the Argentine and Latin American leather industries and institutions.
He joined CITEC when it was founded in 1962. Previously he had worked as manager of the leather department at LEMIT, a government technological institute. In 1973, Alberto Sofia was appointed CITEC director, and in 1979 was the first Latin American elected as president of the International Union of Leather Chemists and Technologists Societies (IULTCS).
Between 1973 and 1985 he co-ordinated and managed two multinational projects on leather production sponsored by the Organization of the Latin American States (OEA). The projects involved leather training and research institutions between ten countries in the region.
Sofia has published 134 research studies and articles, mainly on leather finishing and quality control for several domestic and international journals. He has also been involved with several technical support missions to other countries sponsored by Unido, CEPAL, CIID, OEA as well as governmental institutions in Argentina.
