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The founder of Portland State University’s School of Urban Studies and Planning and his wife, an architect and planner, died Monday in an automobile accident in Montevideo, Uruguay, according to a press release from PSU.

Emeritus Dean Nohad Toulan, 81, and his wife, Dirce Angelina Moroni Toulan, 78, were key contributors to the modern urban development of Portland, PSU reported.

In addition to helping draft the region’s urban growth boundary in 1977, and championing the formation of a tri-county Metro government, Nohad Toulan was the founding dean of PSU’s College of Urban and Public Affairs. He held that position from 1976 until his retirement in 2004. He also led what became the Toulon School of Urban Studies and Planning (renamed in his honor in 2005) for 32 years.

Toulon, a native of Egypt, became the first planning director of the greater Cairo region in 1965, and came to PSU from Columbia University in 1972. In the mid-1980s, he created a comprehensive regional plan for Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He also served as an adviser to the United Nations Development Program, as well as local and foreign governments.

Locally, he was a key figure in the planning and construction of PSU’s Urban Center – a $33 million mixed-use development of academic, retail and office buildings completed in 2000.

In a prepared statement, PSU President Wim Wiewel said Nohad Toulan was a visionary whose work has shaped metro Portland and cities around the world. Mayor Charlie Hales also issued a statement, describing Nohad Toulan as a “wise and warmhearted sage who really cared about you.” Hales added that everyone in Portland who wanted to learn something about the way cities should work, sat at the feet of Toulan and listened.

Dirce Toulan helped the College of Urban and Public Affairs grow and develop, according to PSU. She also established an endowment program to support the college’s library, which is now named the Dirce Moroni Toulan Library.

The Toulans are survived by their children, Mariam and Omar. Plans for a memorial are pending, and will be announced at .