Luleå University of Technology's new honorary doctors 2024

Luleå University of Technology has appointed four honorary doctors for 2024: Karin Bodin, CEO of Polarbrödsgruppen, author Elin Anna Labba, Executive and Artistic Director at Konserthuset Stefan Forsberg and author Lars Gyllenhaal.

Karin Bodin, CEO Polarbröd Group

Being the family’s fifth generation of bakers, and with a strong personal commitment for innovation and sustainability together with close ties to industry in north Sweden, CEO Karin Bodin leads the Polarbröd Group investment in the arctic town of Älvsbyn and improves at the same time the food production in the northern region of Sweden.

Karin Bodin excels as an accomplished corporate manager with grocery trade products in a highly competitive sector and is also a great inspirer and an outstanding communicator and storyteller. She is actively involved in the development of small enterprises, in particular micro-enterprises within the area of sustainable food production, and supports the environmental movement and biodiversity. For many years, the company has invested in its own wind power production and efficient use of energy.

Working together with Luleå University of Technology, mainly in the project Resilient and Sustainable production, she has very generously shared knowledge and experience in collaboration with the company’s key competences. All this in the midst of the turbulent period for the company after a devastating fire in 2020, a difficult market situation and the pressure to quickly rebuild the factory.

“I am very surprised and happy to be nominated Honorary Doctor. This is a recognition of the work that we do at the Polarbröd Group, and an incentive for the way forward,” says Karin Bodin.

Elin Anna Labba, journalist and author

Elin Anna Labba made her debut as an author in 2020 with the award-winning documentary prose work The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow - The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi. The work uses stories, photos, letters and yoik texts to portray the forced migrations of Sámi people in the early 1900s. In the year 2024, Labba published the novel The home of the Drowned, which illustrates how the expansion of hydroelectric power influences the life and livelihood of people in Sápmi. Her early works include För världens skull (2022; anthology), The Climate Book (2022; anthology), Inifrån Sápmi 2021 (2021; anthology) och Du blir vad du säger (2021; anthology). As journalist, Labba has written for Samefolket, one of the oldest indigenous-people publications, and has been the chief editor for Nuorat, the Sámi youth journal.

Elin Anna Labba engages readers from both literary and popular education contexts, and her audience are found within and outside the northern region. She has raised her voice for and initiated dialogues on matters of great importance to people, nature, industry and civil society in northern Sweden. Through her portraits of historical events, she raises questions about what happens to people and societies in transition.

“I am very honoured. It is particularly special that this is a nomination from my river valley. Luleå University of Technology is located close to the same waters from which I originate and that I write about. During the last ten years, I have met so many elderly Sámi who have knowledge greater than a university. I thank them for everything, and I think that this is also a nomination of older Sámi’s knowledge – an honouring of the Sámi narrative academy with which I have the privilege to work,” says Elin Anna Labba.

Lars Gyllenhaal, author

Lars Gyllenhaal is an author with deep knowledge of Swedish and international military history. In his latest book Okända krigsspår: Deltog Sverige i andra världskriget?, Gyllenhaal explores the role of Sweden during the Second World War. Other works include 200 svenska sevärdheter från andra världskriget (2020) and Svenska flygare mot Hitler (2022). Through his works, Gyllenhaal has contributed greatly to our understanding of the history of the Second World War in the arctic part of the Fennoscandia and particularly in the Norrbotten County and Västerbotten County in Sweden.

In his research, he has focused on the important role that Swedish actors played in the efforts of the Allied forces to conquer the occupying power of Nazi Germany in Norway, by means of operations carried out from northern Swedish territory. His work has given us valuable facts of local residents’ roles, ranging from transports to information on and participation in operations across Swedish borders in the north – not least the initiatives of the Sámi community. The mastery of Gyllenhaal to highlight the significance of the local community offers important insights of our time, especially when tension increases in the Cap of the North due to international conflicts.

“I am happy and honoured to be nominated Honorary Doctor at Luleå University of Technology. Furthermore, I assume that the nomination may be related to the increasing focus on the Cap of the North and the Arctic as a result of the tension and the opportunities that exist in these areas,” says Lars Gyllenhaal.

Stefan Forsberg, Executive and Artistic Director at Konserthuset

Stefan Forsberg came to Konserthuset Stockholm in 2003 as Executive and Artistic Director of the Stockholm Concert Hall Foundation and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Through his far-sighted and methodical work, he has established the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra as one of Europe’s finest symphony orchestras.

A pivotal idea in the leadership of Forsberg has been to reach a new audience and new target groups. Under his leadership, there has been an increase in the number of concerts for children, exhibitions, and jazz, orchestra and chamber music concerts, together with a range of educational initiatives. One obvious example is the successful and talked-about Orchestra Academy, running in close collaboration between the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the School of Music at Luleå University of Technology since 2016. The Orchestra Academy is a one-year cutting-edge Master’s programme, targeting international students. Forsberg’s leadership was a crucial factor to enable the implementation and continuous development of the Orchestra Academy, which has led to higher music education at Luleå University of Technology achieving both a good name and high status.

Forsberg is renowned within the cultural field and has made significant contributions to promote the development of the School of Music at Luleå University of Technology.

“I am deeply honoured to be nominated! The collaboration based on the quality, curiosity and foresight that exist at Luleå University of Technology has made our Orchestra Academy a deeply admired actor both in the national and the international perspective. I am happy to have been a small part of this extremely successful initiative!”, says Stefan Forsberg.

Karin Bodin, Elin-Anna Labba, Lars Gyllenhaal and Stefan Forsberg will be awarded their doctorates at Luleå University of Technology's academic ceremony in November.