Duke Forest Division Renamed to Honor Judd Edeburn

Even though he'll retire this December after 36 years of leading the Duke Forest, Judd Edeburn's name will live on the ecological space.

Last month, Duke's Board of Trustees approved a motion to rename the Eno Division of the Duke Forest the Edeburn Division, bestowing on the longtime resource manager an honor shared by other leaders of the Forest, including Clarence Korstian, the first director of Duke Forest and founding dean of the School of Forestry.

The newly-named Edeburn Division sits at the southeast tip of the Town of Hillsborough and covers about 490 acres between NC 86 and New Hope Church Road. After hearing of the decision, Edeburn said it was an incredible and totally unexpected honor. 

"Certainly, management of the Duke Forest has not been the product of just one individual," he said. "We have had a very capable and dedicated staff which has worked very hard in the stewardship of this incredible resource over the years. I am so very fortunate to have been part of this for the past 36 years."

Among Edeburn's accomplishments during his time as resource manager for Duke Forest, he led the process in 2001 for Duke Forest to become the first university teaching and research forest to be certified under Forest Stewardship Council guidelines for responsible management and supported a variety of research projects by Duke employees and outside groups like NASA.

In March, Sara Childs was named as Edeburn's successor as director of the Forest. Edeburn is working part-time as a project manager until his official retirement at the end of 2014.

"It's an honor befitting the commitment and dedication Judd has shown to the university and to the forest," Childs said. "He has contributed so much to the experience of hundreds of students, to everyone he's worked with at Duke over the last 36 years, and to the enduring value and vitality of the Duke Forest."