David Sacco ’82 dedicated his life to humanitarian engineering, serving as the founding advisor to Yale’s Engineers Without Borders Chapter for nearly two decades. He died earlier this month at age 64.

Sacco, a New Haven native, graduated from Yale College in 1982 with a degree in architecture and went on to earn a Master of Science in civil engineering at the University of Washington in 1993. Since 2000, Sacco has worked as a professional engineer at TPA Design Group in New Haven. As the advisor to Yale EWB, Sacco has led students on water supply trips to Honduras, Cameroon, Tanzania and Ecuador. In 2012, he was presented with the Professional Founders Award by the Engineers Without Borders national organization.

“David was Yale’s Engineers without Borders practitioner advisor and was the true force behind this successful organization,” Jordan Peccia, Chair of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and faculty advisor to Yale EWB, wrote in an email to the News. “David provided careful, kind, and effective mentorship to hundreds of Yale engineering students on international development and the practical delivery of safe drinking water.”

Fueled by his passion for humanitarian engineering, Sacco impacted communities around the world. After graduating from the University, he spent two years working as a school construction volunteer with the Peace Corps in Gabon. Later, he worked as a United Nations volunteer in Sri Lanka and spent years as an engineering advisor to agencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Kosovo. 

Cosima Deetman ’25, who leads Yale EWB’s health team, traveled to Naitolia, Tanzania, with Sacco in January. She noted that Sacco was “completely in his element” while engaging in fieldwork and interacting with the local community.

“He went on trips with so many groups over the years, yet he made each group feel special because he approached every task with the eagerness of someone doing it for the first time,” Deetman said.

In addition to Sacco’s work and passion for mentorship, Matilda Vary ’25, president of Yale EWB, admired Sacco’s kind nature and community-building skills. 

Vary worked closely with Sacco to get Yale EWB off the ground last September after a dip in activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. She traveled with Sacco on two Yale EWB trips — one to Naitolia, and one to El Obraje, Ecuador in August. Vary told the News that Sacco’s passion for humanitarian work has inspired her to consider joining the Peace Corps.

“As an engineer who was also incredibly personable, he was so unique,” Vary said. “The way Dave could read a room or a situation was jaw-dropping. And anytime he saw someone excited about Engineers Without Borders or just about service in general, he was eager to latch onto that and help nurture a spirit like his.”

According to Peccia, Sacco’s work for the organization directly extended clean drinking water to over 5,000 individuals across three continents.

Vary echoed the broad impact of Sacco’s work and pointed additionally to the indirect results of his time with Yale EWB. Thanks in large part to increased drinking water access facilitated by Sacco’s work, education rates in communities he visited often increased, while waterborne disease rates decreased.

Vary told the News that she has received an influx of emails from former Yale EWB members sharing fond memories of Sacco and offering to succeed him as the chapter’s advisor, noting the impact of his long-standing role as a mentor and friend in the community.

Many of Sacco’s former mentees, as well as his family, friends and colleagues, shared kind words about his life on a memorial website.

“He provided continuity and experience to a club that — inherent to any college club — was constantly cycling through members and leadership,” Deetman wrote in an email to the News. “He embodied the perfect mentor in so many ways. He was enthusiastic, patient, and wise. I loved hearing stories from his past projects, which clearly filled him with so much joy. I know that behind each story was a group of students or community who, just like me, feel grateful to have had Dave in their life.”

The Yale chapter of Engineers Without Borders was founded in 2004.