Ten years after receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master of public administration (M.P.A.) from the Maxwell School, George Marotta helped establish an organization that has helped millions of people across the world.

Marotta is considered an architect of the Peace Corps, established by the U.S. government in 1961 to assist developing countries by providing skilled workers in fields such as education, health, entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment and community development. Speaking about its founding, he once said, “We needed countries to realize that this was different from other U.S. activities that were diplomatic, or commercial, or church related.”

Marotta died July 26 at the age of 98 in Palo Alto, California.

His accomplishments and commitment to public service exceeded his role developing the Corps: He was a decorated military veteran, a revered public servant, a trusted financial advisor, a proud Maxwell alumnus and a beloved family member and friend.

Marotta enrolled in Maxwell after returning from deployment with the U.S. Army at the end of World War II. On campus, he found a deeper interest in public service and met his future wife, June Alison Mortlock, to whom he was married for 55 years until her death in 2003. The couple raised three sons.

Supported by the G.I. Bill, Marotta earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1950, followed by an M.P.A. in 1951. Nearly three decades in public service included work on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations in Paris from 1951–52, eight years on President Eisenhower’s National Security Council staff, and positions with the U.S. Information Agency, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Agency for International Development.

He also served on the White House staff as deputy director of the public affairs staff of the president’s Federal Property Council, a role for which he received a Presidential Certificate of Appreciation in 1973.

In addition to World War II, Marotta served in Vietnam, earning a Meritorious Honor Award in 1968 for service during the Viet Cong offensive in Saigon.

In 1975, he joined Stanford University’s Hoover Institution as a research fellow, focusing on international finance and global capital markets. He encouraged scholars to reach a broader public through op-eds, taught an economics seminar and continued to travel and lecture. His articles appeared in major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

His “third career,” as described by family and friends, grew out of a deep interest in investing. In 1985, he and his wife founded Marotta Money Management in Palo Alto as a fee-only advisory firm.

Through the decades, Marotta remained closely connected to the Maxwell School, frequently engaging with faculty and staff. Over the course of 45 years, he donated nearly every year in support of its mission, which Dean David M. Van Slyke said aligned with his remarkable life.

In a note to Marotta shortly before his death, Van Slyke wrote, “Your long and distinguished career stands as a powerful testament to the ideals embodied in the Athenian Oath—to leave our communities, our nation and our world not only not less, but greater than they were left to us. Through your service in the U.S. military, your leadership in the federal government, your contributions at the Hoover Institution and your continued civic engagement, you have advanced the public good in innumerable ways, leaving a legacy of enduring impact.”