Influential people

Influential people

Many people have influenced the development of NHH over the years. Profiles of a few of these people indicate the calibre of people associated with the school since its earliest days, and the influence they have had beyond the bounds of NHH.

Kristofer Lehmkuhl  

Kristofer Lehmkuhl was a businessman in the best of Bergen traditions. Grandson of a German merchant, he built a successful business career in Bergen, was elected member of parliament for the city, became a Cabinet Minister in the first Norwegian government after independence from Sweden in 1905 and then returned to business life after his period in public office. He campaigned tirelessly for the establishment of a Norwegian school of business in Bergen, and is known as the Father of the School as a result of his efforts.

Dag Coward  

Dag Coward stands out as the father of business administration in Norway through his own contribution to the core topics of the discipline and through the establishment of a Norwegian terminology, based on the German tradition. He joined NHH in 1939 and as Rector from 1962 to 1972 oversaw the move of NHH to the current campus and the rapid expansion of the school that began in the 1960's and 1970's. Coward was also largely responsible for the introduction of Høyere Revisorstudium (HRS - Master programme in auditing) at NHH.

Karl Borch  

Karl Borch came from an insurance industry background and made the move to academia relatively late. He more than made up for this, publishing seminal works on the economics of uncertainty and related fields. He was also a driving force behind the great expansion in research that occurred at NHH in the 1960’s and 1970’s. As teacher, advisor and role model, Borch encouraged the best graduates to continue their studies abroad, to raise their ambitions to write with a view to publishing internationally.

Finn Kydland  

Finn Kydland qualified with the Siviløknom degree from NHH in 1968 and continued at the school as a research scholar. He subsequently graduated with a PhD from Carnegie Mellon in 1973 and returned to NHH to continue his research and teach. Together with his PhD Advisor, Professor Edward Prescott, Kydland produced the first of two papers that would lead to both men winning the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2004. In 1978 Kydland moved to Carnegie Mellon, but he has retained his connections with NHH by taking up a position as Adjunct Professor at the school.


NHH Honorary Award for Excellent Research

NHH instigated the NHH Honorary Award for Excellent Research on the 50th anniversary of the school in 1986 to celebrate and reward outstanding contributions to research made by NHH faculty members. The following researchers have received this prestigious award: