RENSSELAERVILLE, N.Y. (AP) – George Dudley, who helped design some of New York’s best-known architectural landmarks such as the United Nations, has died at age 90.

The Pittsburgh-born Dudley – who served as dean of architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy and then went on to establish the school of architecture and urban planning at the University of California at Los Angeles – died Monday at his country estate in Rensselaerville, south of Albany.

He had been in poor health since 2000, when he was struck by a van that was put in gear by a toddler.

“The whole world would be a lot better looking if George Dudley had been in charge of it,” Andy Rooney, a “60 Minutes” commentator on CBS and a longtime Dudley friend, told the Times Union of Albany.

Dudley’s work was internationally renowned and helped shaped the skylines of both New York City and Albany.

Dudley worked with Wallace K. Harrison, the architect charged with making real the grandiose visions of former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. Dudley worked alongside Harrison in designing and building the United Nations, Rockefeller Center, Lincoln Center and the Empire State Plaza in Albany.

In 1941, Dudley established the first master of fine arts program in urban planning at Yale. A decade later, he turned his attention toward creating low-cost housing in developing countries.

Dudley is survived by his second wife, Barbara, nine children and stepchildren, 20 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

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