Dennis Warner

Title: Senior Technical Advisor for Water Supply, Sanitation and Water Resources Development

Areas of Expertise: water and sanitation

Languages Spoken: English

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Biography

Dennis Warner is CRS' senior technical advisor for water supply, sanitation and water resources development. In this role he works with CRS offices to develop water sector policies and strategies for the agency. He also assists in the establishment of partnerships for water-related activities with non-governmental organizations and commercial enterprises.

Mr. Warner began his international career as a Peace Corps volunteer working as a hydrologist in Tanzania. He also served as an economic research fellow at the University of Dar es Salaam.

In 1971, Mr. Warner accepted the position of sanitary engineer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Uganda. He was simultaneously an honorary lecturer in civil engineering at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He returned to the U.S. as an assistant professor of civil engineering at Duke University, teaching and conducting research in hydrology, water engineering, economic planning and the recovery of resources from solid wastes.

Mr. Warner next worked in the Philippines, Malaysia, Lesotho and Sri Lanka as a consultant in water supply and sanitation for USAID and the Asian Development Bank. He shifted to the private sector and was involved in planning national water supply and sanitation programs around the world. In 1988 he joined the water and sanitation division of the World Bank.

Mr. Warner later held key positions at WHO in Geneva, Switzerland as head of the community water supply and sanitation program and then as chief of water supply, sanitation and rural environmental health. In 1998 he became an independent consultant in water supply and sanitation, environmental health, emergency response and disaster preparedness for organizations such as CRS, the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, CARE, WHO, USAID, the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. During this period he also served as the permanent representative of Pax Christi International to the United Nations in Geneva.

Over the years, Mr. Warner has produced an extensive collection of papers, articles, books, reports and presentations on water-related issues. He joined CRS in 2004.

Mr. Warner holds a B.A. in history, a B.Sc. in civil engineering and a M.Sc. in civil engineering (hydraulics and hydrology) from the University of Illinois. He also earned two additional graduate degrees, Engineer and Ph.D., in civil engineering from Stanford University.