Svend O. Heiberg

Svend Oluf Heiberg (1900–1965) was a silviculturist, born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 22, 1900, educated at Yale University. He came to the United States in 1926, becoming a naturalized US citizen in 1934. Heiberg was Professor of Silviculture, and later Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, at the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. He and his wife, Aasa Gerlach, had two daughters, Lily and Karin, and one son, Eric. Heiberg died on February 5, 1965, in Syracuse.

From 1924 to 1925, Heiberg and his friend, Aksel Svane, later to become a lawyer and Governor of Greenland, ventured on an historic world-tour by motorcycle. Interested in studying "the forest reserves... of the world", their route took them from Copenhagen, through Europe to Turkey, from there to Iraq, "by steamer to India", then to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, across the United States, and back to Europe.

In 1959, Heiberg was appointed to the position of Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.

Publications Heiberg, Svend O. 1960. "Postgraduate study for world forestry", Unasylva 14(4). Available: FAO Heiberg, Svend O., and Donald P. White. 1951. "Potassium deficiency of reforested pine and spruce stands in northern New York", Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 15: 369–376. Available: Agronomy.org Romell, Lars Gunnar, and Svend O. Heiberg. 1931. "Types of humus layer in the forests of northeastern United States", Ecology 12(3):567-608. Available: JSTOR

Honors Order of the Dannebrog, by King Frederik IX of Denmark, 1955, for "contributions to world forestry" Honorary doctorate, Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College, 1963 - "the first professional forester" and "first American" to receive such an honor

Legacy Heiberg Memorial Award, New York Forest Owners Association - recognizing "outstanding contributions to forestry and conservation in New York" Svend O. Heiberg Memorial Forest, Tully, New York - "3900 acres in Cortland and Onondaga Counties; Towns of Truxton, Preble, Fabius, and Tully..." providing "a field laboratory setting [for] educational, research and demonstration activities..."