Niels Ebbesen Hansen
1866-1950

Niels E. Hansen began his forty-two years with South Dakota State University as professor of horticulture in 1895. The Denmark native's plant-breeding successes earned him the title "Burbank of the Plains."

Hansen discovered cossack alfalfa on his travels to Europe and Asia as the United States' first plant explorer. The drought and cold-resistant hybrid from Siberia became a new source of income for western South Dakota.

A pioneer in adapting agriculture to the Northern Great Plains, Hansen introduced over three hundred new varieties of plants to the region. He received recognition across the United States and Canada for his work.

A more detailed profile is printed in Volume 17 Number 1 of South Dakota History, the journal of the South Dakota State Historical Society.