Background
Henry Fairfield Osborn Junior. was born in Princeton, New Jersey. Born into the wealthy and influential Osborn family, he was the son of Henry Fairfield Osborn, a prominent paleontologist, eugenicist and "distinguished Aryan enthusiast".
Henry Fairfield Osborn Junior. was born in Princeton, New Jersey. Born into the wealthy and influential Osborn family, he was the son of Henry Fairfield Osborn, a prominent paleontologist, eugenicist and "distinguished Aryan enthusiast".
Princeton University. University of Cambridge.
He was longtime president of the New York Zoological Society. After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, he went on to study biology at Cambridge University, but then pursued a career in international business. Towards the end of the First World War, he served briefly as a Captain in the United States Army, after which he returned to private enterprise.
In 1935, he retired and devoted himself to environmental causes.
Osborn wrote Our Plundered Planet, and when published in 1948 it became very influential in the early Environmental movement and helped spur a Malthusian revival in 1950s and 60s. From 1948 to 1961, he served as the first president of the Conservation Foundation, an organization he founded with a number of like-minded colleagues to raise awareness about ecological problems.
After retiring as president, he served as chairman of the board of this organization from 1962 to 1969. Upon his death in New York City on September 16, 1969, "he was remembered for playing a valuable role in a number of conservation organizations and for his outreach initiatives to warn of the dangers of uncontrolled population growth and to promote responsible natural resource consumption.".
He continued in his capacity as secretary and board member of the New York Zoological Society, a position he held from 1923 until 1940, when he was named president and board member, a position he held for the rest of his life. From 1950 to 1957, Osborn was also a member of the Conservation Advisory Committee for the United States. Department of the Interior, while also serving on the Planning Committee of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.