Nelson Courtlandt Brown (born March 1, 1885) was an American forester.

Early life

Brown was born on March 1, 1985, in

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

with a bachelors of Arts degree in 1906 and a Master of Forestry degree in 1908.

Early career

He was with the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

working mainly in the northwest and the south (1908–1912). Brown was appointed assistant professor of Forest Utilization at the

New York State College of Forestry The New York State College of Forestry, the first professional school of forestry in North America, opened its doors at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in the autumn of 1898., It was advocated for by Governor Frank S. Black, but after just ...

, Syracuse, New York, on July 1, 1912, and appointed to Professor in 1914. He first taught the fundamental forestry subjects and later became head of the Department of Forest Utilization.

Wartime service

Brown resigned on August 31, 1917, to take up duties as the US Federal Trade Commissioner in Europe. In 1918, he was transferred to the American Expeditionary Force as adviser in forest products and utilization.

Return to New York

Brown was reappointed Professor of Forest Utilization at the New York State College of Forestry on August 1, 1921. When F. Franklin Moon became Dean, Brown served in Moon's administration. When Moon was on sabbatical leave from 1926 to 1927, Brown served as Acting Dean. Upon Moon's death, Brown again was appointed Acting Dean. Brown served as Acting Dean three times in his career: 1926–1927; 1928; and 1929–1930. In his first administration, Brown secured the gift of the

Charles Lathrop Pack Charles Lathrop Pack (May 7, 1857 – June 14, 1937), a third-generation timberman, was "one of the five wealthiest men in America prior to World War I".Eyle, p. xv His financial success was built on the success of his father, George Willis Pa ...

Demonstration Forest Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Protest, a public act of objection, disapproval or d ...

and a cash donation for the forest's preliminary development. In his second administration, he secured the state appropriation for the campus's second building, what became

Louis Marshall Louis Marshall (December 14, 1856 – September 11, 1929) was an American corporate, constitutional and civil rights lawyer as well as a mediator and Jewish community leader who worked to secure religious, political, and cultural freedom for ...

Memorial Hall (Marshall Hall), which offered greater teaching and laboratory space. Brown also procured the only substantial increases in state appropriations for teaching staff salaries as well as a grant of $10,000 for forest investigations.

Scientific contributions

Brown co-authored ''Elements of Forestry'' with F. Franklin Moon. Other texts included ''Forest Products and Their Manufacture'' (1919), ''America's Lumber Industry'' (1923), ''Logging - Principles and Practice'' (1934), ''General Forestry'' (1935), and ''Logging Transportation'' (1936). Brown also authored articles on the economic and practical phases of lumber production, manufacture, and consumption for technical and trade journals.

References

External links

*The Archives from Nelson Brown's tenure as Acting Dean of the New York State College of Forestry are located in the Archives of the SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry http://www.esf.edu/moonlib/archives/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Nelson C. Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies alumni History of forestry education Year of death missing State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry faculty Leaders of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry New York State College of Forestry 1885 births