Raphael Zon (December 1, 1874 - October 27, 1956) was a prominent U.S. Forest Service researcher.

Early life

Raphael Zon was born in Simbirsk in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1874, to parents Gabriel Zon and Eugenia Berliner. A schoolmate of Lenin's, he fled Russia in 1896 while on bail following arrest for organizing a trade union. Zon and companion Anna Puziriskaya, whom he would later marry, fled to Belgium where he studied in Liège. He spent nine months in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

before emigrating to the United States in 1898.

Education

Zon's early studies were in Russia. He attended the "classical gymnasium" in Simbirsk, and, studying "medical and natural sciences," graduating from the Kazan Imperial University with a bachelor's degree in "comparative embryology".Schmaltz, Norman J. (1980). "Forest Researcher: Raphael Zon" Part I
''Journal of Forest History'' (January), pp.25-39. Accessed: March 13, 2013. In the United States, Zon studied forestry under Bernhard Fernow, Filibert Roth and others at the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, earning a professional degree of Forest Engineer (F.E.) in the college's first graduating class in 1901.

Career

Upon graduation, he went to work for the U.S. Forest Service, where his career spanned 43 years as a forest researcher. Zon was a protégé' of both Dr. Bernhard Fernow and

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

, first Chief of the United States Forest Service, and a close friend of Bob Marshall in the 1930s. Zon made significant contributions to forestry literature. Many of his more than 200 scientific publications have been translated into Russian, French, German, and Japanese. With Bernard Fernow, Zon helped establish American forestry’s professional periodical literature. These contributions began when he joined the editorial staff of ''Forest Quarterly''. He deepened his involvement, becoming editor of the ''Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters'' in 1905. When ''Forest Quarterly'' and ''Proceedings'' merged, Zon became one of the founders and the first managing editor of the combined publication, the ''Journal of Forestry''. He served as editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of Forestry'' from 1923-28. Zon was a "giant" among American foresters, or as Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard said, the "dean of all foresters of America."Schmaltz, Norman J. 1980. "Forest Researcher: Raphael Zon" Part II
''Journal of Forest History'' (April), pp.86-97. Accessed: March 13, 2013.

Commemoration

A large stone memorial with plaque commemorating Zon stands at the USDA Cutfoot Sioux Experimental Forest, in Minnesota, near where his ashes were scattered.

Career

* 1901. U.S. Forest Service Student Assistant and assistant to forest investigations in the East * 1907. Chief, Office of Silvics, later Forest Investigations * 1920. Special investigations in forest economics * 1923-1944. Director, Lakes States Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, Minnesota * 1923-1928. Director, Cloquet Forest Experiment Station,

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

* 1944. Retired, U.S. Forest Service

Accomplishments

* 1908. Proposed the establishment of decentralized U.S. Forest Experiment Stations * 1914. Charter member,

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

* 1918. National Research Council, Division of Agriculture, Botany, Forestry, Fisheries and Zoology Executive Committee * 1923-1928. Editor-in-chief,

Journal of Forestry The ''Journal of Forestry'' is the primary scholarly journal of the Society of American Foresters. It aims to advance the forestry profession by keeping professional foresters informed about developments and ideas related to the practice of for ...

* 1928. International Congress of Soil Science, American vice president of the subcommision of forest soils * 1930. Charles Lathrop Pack Forest Education Board * 1940. New York World's Fair "Foreign-born citizens judged to have made the most notable contributions to American democracy in the past 100 years" * Fellow, Society of American Foresters * 1952. Gifford Pinchot Medal, Society of American Foresters * 2005. U.S. Forest Service Centennial Congress Science Leadership Award * Authored or co-authored roughly 200 articles in professional journals, business and development publications, or popular magazines

References

External links

"A Red Star is Born."
''Peeling Back the Bark''.
"The Greatest Good: 100 years,"
a video on the life and legacy of Raphael Zon, by Char Miller {{DEFAULTSORT:Zon, Raphael Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni History of forestry in the United States Forestry researchers History of forestry education American conservationists American foresters Russian foresters New York State College of Forestry 1956 deaths 1874 births Kazan Federal University alumni