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Tributes have been paid to Albert Lester, Honorary Fellow of Association for Project Management (APM), who has sadly passed away aged 96.

Albert (pictured) was a Chartered Civil, Mechanical and Structural Engineer, who worked in project management for engineering design and construction projects. Originally from Germany, Albert came to England on the Kindertransport in 1939 but was reunited with his parents in Rhodesia after the war. He spent his life in project management, working on engineering design and construction projects. Albert was married and had two sons before he passed away on Sunday 29 September 2024 from pneumonia. He is survived by his two sons.

His career highlights included managing large projects for Tarmac, Sim Chem (Simon Engineering), Senior Engineering and Foster Wheeler Power Products. Albert was also a member of the British Standards Institution and International Organization for Standardization, developing new project management standards, and acting as an adjudicator and expert witness in industrial and construction disputes. He became an Honorary Fellow of APM in 2007.

In his time with APM, Albert accredited many project management courses, as well as set and marked APM exams. Before he passed, Albert was in the middle of writing the 9th edition of his established project management handbook, Project Management, Planning and Control.

Professor Adam Boddison OBE, APM’s Chief Executive, recently commented:

“Albert was of course a close friend of APM and rightly recognised as one of our Honorary Fellows.

“It is a sad part of APM maturing that we see some of our pioneers pass. However, we are so grateful to people like Albert for setting us on such a good path. It is a testament to them that we have such a bright future, and I hope he would be rightly proud of that.”