Leif Bjørnø

Leif Bjørnø biography 

He authored or co-authored over 400 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, professional magazines, conference proceedings and text-books. 

Professor Leif Bjørnø has completed his compulsory military service as a lieutenant in the Danish Navy and nurtured his Navy connection throughout his life - he was regularly called upon as consultant in the matters related to – particularly – his expertise in littoral acoustics. His expertise in acoustics was also highly recognized by the NATO, and during the cold war period he was considered to be one of the best internationally recognized experts in the field of underwater explosions, underwater sound propagation and underwater vibrations. 

As a result he was appointed as the leader of the Advisory Committee at NATO research center (SACLANT, La Spezia, Italy) – the Center’s priorities at that time were focused on anti-submarine warfare and mine detection. 

Leif Bjørnø was highly recognized as a scientist and human being both in Denmark and globally. He was appointed to a number of honorary (chairman) positions; he was also a member of many professional organizations and recipient of a number of awards and prizes. 

He never retired and at the time of his death held appointments as Visiting Professor at several European and American universities. In addition, he continued with his involvement, participation and planning of international scientific meetings. 

His peers considered him as a scholarly talented, life enjoying, open minded, honest and loyal individual, who stayed in touch and cultivated close connections with people he liked and respected. He disliked those, who were scholarly competent but incapable of treating others with due respect. 

These characteristics of Leif Bjørnø played undoubtedly a major role in his development of large, international network of friends, which included college peers, (Navy) officers friends and industry leaders and decision makers ("movers and shakers” as he jokes), and younger friends that also enjoyed his company, hospitality, knowledge and good sense of humor.