My Third Act Story: Bertrand Dussert

Third Act is made up of everyday people who have decades of experience working across a multitude of industries. By highlighting the stories of Third Actors in this series, we hope to bring to light the wonderful and inspiring people that bring the joy and energy to our movement.

Born and raised in a small picturesque village in the south of France, I grew up loving nature. I decided to dedicate my career to the environmental field when upon completing my masters in chemistry, I enrolled into a Ph.D. program in environmental engineering.

My research work brought me to the United States in 1987 for postdoctoral studies at Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA). My entire career was in the field of water treatment, our most precious resource.

In 2013, I became a US citizen and voted for the first time in 2016. The results sickened me to my stomach. In the years that followed, I became more and more appalled by the Trump administration.  I struggled mightily with his daily attacks on our democracy and our environment; for example, the countless EPA deregulations and the exit from the Paris Agreement.

In 2019, I left Corporate America with the intention of giving back and making a difference. I volunteered for the Biden Presidential Campaign in Philadelphia which turned out to be decisive in Joe Biden’s win.

I looked at several nonprofit organizations sharing my values related to the environment and democracy. None of them felt “right” until I attended a Third Act All-In Call in late 2021. When the call ended, I ran downstairs with a huge smile on my face and told my wife “I found the right fit.”  

Bertrand Dussert

Dr. Bertrand Dussert is a water and wastewater treatment expert with over thirty years of experience. For his entire career, Bertrand held management & leadership positions (Product Management, R&D, Marketing, Strategy, and Commercial Development) with leading water treatment suppliers, including Siemens Water Technologies (Vineland, NJ, USA), Calgon Carbon Corporation (Pittsburgh, PA, USA), and Xylem, Inc (Washington, D.C.). He has significant teaching experience with leading institutions of higher learning such as the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) and Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). He is first-named inventor or co-inventor in five water technology patents and is the author of over 50 technical papers. He has a M.S. in chemistry from Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1 (France), and completed his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Toulouse (France).