Five new members have joined Aarhus University’s board
Two new student representatives and three new external members will join the Aarhus University Board after the turn of the year.
There will be several new faces on AU’s board in the New Year. Five new members have been elected – and the board also has a new chair, Birgitte Nauntofte, who took up the position on 1 December.
Three of the new members are external members. However, one of them is not an entirely unfamiliar face at Aarhus University: Lars Rohde sat on the AU board from 2011 until 2013, when he resigned to take over the position of governor by royal appointment and chair of Danmarks Nationalbank. Now that he has retired, he’s returning to the board for a second round.
“The universities are always up for discussion and have an extremely complex stakeholder ecosystem. Society has expectations, staff and students have expectations, and where should Aarhus University position itself? The question of the university’s development is deeply interesting and important,“ Rohde says.
Trine Holm Thomsen, director of Aarhus Teater since 2015, is one of two new external board members who will be serving their first term. She has an MA in dramaturgy and Scandinavian languages and literature from Aarhus University.
“I myself am a graduate of Aarhus University, and with my wide-ranging leadership experience from my job as director of Aarhus Teater and my service on the board of Aarhus Katedralskole, there’s a strong synergy in relation to culture, Bildung and education, and I’m looking forward to working with the other members of the board to create the best possible conditions for Aarhus University,” Thomsen says.
The other new board member is Jonas Dahl, CEO of Randers Regional Hospital, who served in the Danish Parliament and as minister for taxation in the cabinet of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt from 2013. He is also an AU alum with an MA in history and social sciences.
“I’m very engaged in the question of how we can ensure successful transitions from upper secondary education to the university and onward onto the job market. I hope to be able to contribute to creating attractive degree programmes on the strength of my insight into the healthcare system, where we have a diversity of professional specialisations – and then Aarhus University is just a fantastic university,” says Jonas Dahl with enthusiasm.
Connie Hedegaard bows out and thanks fellow board members
One of the last tasks that Connie Hedegaard was involved in as chair of the board was the process of finding new external members:
“The three incoming external members have extensive leadership insight, and together they represent an extraordinarily deep and extensive network of connections with many aspects of Danish society,” Hedegaard says.
The new members will replace Caroline Søeborg Ahlefeldt, Jørgen Carlsen and Jens Peter Christensen. Ahlefeldt and Carlsen will step down at the end of their terms at the beginning of 2023, while Christensen will be stepping down prematurely, due to his appointment as president of the Danish Supreme Court earlier this year.
“I would like to thank the outgoing members for their contributions as members of Aarhus University’s board. In their own way, each of them has help make our discussions more informed and contributed valuable input to the university’s development. I’ve truly enjoyed working with all of the board members throughout my years on the board, and it’s been a pleasure to help shape the development of an institution with such crucial importance to society as Aarhus University,” says Hedegaard.
Hedegaard stepped down from the board in late November this year. She has been a member of AU’s board since 2014, and has served as its chair since 2017.
Strong student voices on the board going forward
Two new student members will also be joining the board in the wake of the November university elections: Sofie Hillgaard Pedersen, a medical student, and Thea Bonnemann, who is studying geoscience. They will replace Jonathan Rossen and Mikkel Grøne. All are from the Student Council at Aarhus University.
The two new student board members participated in the latest board meeting, held on Wednesday 7 December, as observers. Here they were introduced to the issues that are considered by the board, such as university finance and strategy; just as importantly, they also met their new colleagues, including Birgitte Nauntofte, the new chair.
“I will work to ensure that the university’s students continue to have a strong voice on the board going forward. And it was simply a pleasure to participate in my first meeting at the university. It was good to get started after a few months of preparation, and it was a pleasure to meet the other members of the board,” Nauntofte says.
The next board meeting will take place on 20 February.