Erik Borsholt

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Erik was born in Copenhagen on March 1, 1932 and died on 11 September 2023 at age 91. Unknown to most younger former colleagues, in January 1969 Erik changed his last name from Borsholm to Borsholt (in Danish and Swedish the primary difference is that -holm relates to water and islands, while -holt relates to trees and forests).

Following graduation as a forestry candidate (forstkandidat) in 1959, Erik joined the the wood preservation laboratory at Danish Technological Institute as an assistant in 1959 and spent decades leading advancements at DTI Træteknik (DTI Wood Technology) until his official retirement during 1995–1996.

Erik specialized in wood microbiology, wood preservation standards, and investigating the environmental degradation of treated timber.

In particular he was early engaged in Nordic collaboration. Already in 1961 he served as secretary for the 7th Nordic Wood Preservation Meeting in Copenhagen and he was early involved in the work of the Nordic Wood Preservation Council (NTR-NWPC) for which he served as the first Danish representative of the Technical Committee from the very beginning 1969 to 1999. Major contributions were given to Nordic wood preservation requirements: the NTR quality control and certification scheme for treatment plants as well as to the NTR approval scheme for wood preservatives.

He served as the secretary for numerous Danish technical committees, heavily shaping, not only Nordic, but also Danish wood preservation requirements and he took active part in CEN (The European Standardization Committee) work. Erik authored and managed crucial industry guides and environmental projects, including extensive research on wood used in outdoor environments for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Miljøstyrelsen).

Erik was an early and active member of The International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRG-WP), collaborating internationally to establish safety and testing protocols for commercial wood preservatives. Erik joined the IRG-WP in the IRG's second year, 1970, as the very first Danish member and he attended numerous of the IRG’s annual international conferences.

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This Memorial was written for inclusion with the September 2026 IRG Newsletter.