Naeseth was a librarian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and genealogist. Naeseth was particularly interested in preserving his family’s history, as he wrote an extensive family history book.

Gerhard Brandt Naeseth was born April 14, 1913 to Carelius and Emma (Brandt) Naeseth in Valley City, North Dakota. He graduated from Luther College in 1934, then earned both a bachelor's (1936) and master's degree (1939) in library science at the University of Michigan. He worked in several libraries during his career, most notably as an associate director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries from 1948 until his retirement in 1978.

Naeseth was interested in genealogical work. In addition to tracing his own family roots in his Naeseth-Fehn Family History (1956), he wrote Norwegian Immigrants to the United States: A Biographical Directory, published in 1993. Naeseth founded the Vesterheim Genealogical Center (now the Norwegian-American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library) in 1974 and served as its president until 1993.

Naeseth married Milma Petrell on August 25, 1940. They had two children. Naeseth passed away in 1994.

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Naeseth var bibliotekar ved University of Wisconsin i Madison. Han var spesielt interes sert i slektshistorie og skrev en omfattende slektshistorie bok. Han bygde opp avdelingen for slektshistorie ved Vesterheim (kontoret ligger i Madison, Wisconsin).

Naeseth-Fehn Family History, p.18-19

Obituary, The Capital Times (Madison, WI), July 13, 1994.