Alexander (Sandy) Stevenson, former economist with the World Bank, died Jan. 3 in Bethesda, Md., after a brief illness. He was 92.

Sandy joined the World Bank in 1947 as one of its first 50 employees. His career spanned 35 years. He led economic development initiatives around the globe, directing numerous missions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. At the time of his retirement in 1982, he was director of the bank’s Economics Development Institute.

A child of World War I, Alexander Stevenson was born in Huntly, Scotland on Dec. 9, 1916, the day his father was killed in France during the Battle-of-the-Somme. He completed his grade school education at the Gordon School in Huntly, before moving with his mother and sister to Aberdeen in 1930. There, he attended secondary school at Robert Gordon’s College, and graduated from Aberdeen University in 1937.

Following a year on scholarship at the University of Zurich and travel in Europe, Sandy managed to secure an exchange fellowship to the University of California at Berkeley in 1939 through a chance acquaintance. He was awarded an advanced degree in economics. While pursuing a doctoral degree, a mentor at Berkeley recruited him to work for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York. His work there addressed problems of reciprocal trade and postwar international economics. He also studied the German industrial cartels. Prior to leaving California for New York, he met his future wife, Barbara Hirshfeld, at Berkeley. They were married six weeks later at City Hall in New York city in May 1943.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 and became a U.S. citizen. Largely due to his fluency in German and French, he was tapped for service by the CIA’s predecessor, the OSS. However, his economics background and work on German cartels prompted a transfer to the finance division for military government in Germany. Sandy was sent to Frankfurt, where his team conducted an investigation into the wartime activities of the German chemical group IG Farben. This work continued at the Justice Department upon his return to Washington, until he joined the World Bank.

In 1951, Sandy moved from Anacostia to suburban Maryland. He was one of the first residents of the recently founded Bannockburn co-op housing community. He served in various positions with the Bannockburn Citizen’s Association and was an active resident until his death. A devoted gardener all his life, he created a terrace landscape on his property, where he pursued his interests in bulbs, native plants and trees. His garden included some of the first azaleas imported to the U.S. from Japan after the war. He spent much time tending his extensive orchid collection. A longtime member and past president of the Metropolitan Washington Garden Club, Sandy delighted his fellow members with his knowledge and shared plants. He kept bees for the last 40 years, tending hives in his backyard that produced thousands of pounds of honey. These hives no doubt pollinated millions of trees, flowers, and shrubs in the area.

Sandy and Barbara were summer residents of Menemsha for 50 years, and also built a family house in Aquinnah. A gentle man who made friends easily, Sandy was intensely interested in the Island and fond of the people he met there. An insatiable curiosity about almost everything led him to persuade Capt. Walter Manning to take him onboard the Bozo to learn about swordfishing. He was an exceptional naturalist, as well as an expert birder. He and Barbara compiled an extensive life list of species spotted around the world. Sandy joined birders Eddie Chalif, Soo Whiting, Flip Harrington, Barbara Pesche and Vernon Laux, accompanying Soo and Flip on a number of their excursions to Central America. A strong believer in the protection of wildlife and nature conservation, he and Barbara supported many environmental organizations both local and international. He was deeply attached to the Vineyard landscape, taking full advantage of beaches and conservation areas around the Island. He could frequently be seen with a black Labrador on a woodland path at Sheriff’s Meadow or Waskosim’s Rock Reservation. He and his canine companion also enjoyed walks along the shore at Menemsha, Squibnocket, Philbin and Lobsterville. Sandy and Barbara worked with other supporters of the Chilmark Community Center at the time of its founding. The center became a focal point of the family’s summers on the Island. Passionate about classical music all his life, Sandy supported and attended many of the summer programs on the Vineyard.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Barbara H. Stevenson, of Bethesda, Md.; children Andrew K. Stevenson of Washington, D.C., Kathleen M. Stevenson of Cabin John, Md., and Malcolm G. Stevenson of Bethesda, Md., daughters in law Julia Kampelman Stevenson of Washington, D.C. and Robyn G. Nietert of Bethesda, Md.; and grandchildren Alexander, Aidan, Montana, Victoria, Eva and Ian. His older sister Margaret died in 1996.