Svein Stølen is new rector of University of Oslo

Svein Stølen was visibly moved during his acceptance speech on April 20. «I’m so thankful for the trust that has been placed in me,» he said. «First and foremost, it is so great to stand here now, after a long election.»

The election announcement was planned for 14:30, but there ended up being a 40-minute delay. It is stil unknown why.

The announcement ended an election season that lasted over two months. Opponent Hans Petter Graver and his team members Inger Sandlie and Jan Frich will continue working at UiO.

This is how the votes tallied up

There were 5,887 votes total, with 202 of them blank.

Stølen lost the student vote with just 45.67 percent, but won both employee groups, with 55 percent of the teaching staff votes, and 64.34 percent of the technical and administrative staff votes.

Only ten percent of the student body voted. Four years ago it was 14 percent, when student Torkil Vederhus ran against incumbent Ole Petter Ottersen. This year students were not permitted to run.

Team effort

Stølen made sure to give a big thanks to his colleague and prorector Gro Bjørnerud Mo.

«I knew I wanted to prioritize education and a good learning environment, so I went to Gro and asked if she would work with me for the next four years. I’m so glad, dear Gro, that you said yes. We’re complimentary both professionally and personality-wise, and that’s important. We’re going to have a great time,» he said.

Finally Stølen thanked his opponent Hans Petter Graver, and his team.

«I want to thank UiO, for having been engaged for this entire election. And I want to thank team Graver for an intense fight, when we’ve agreed and disagreed on a lot. Together we contributed to the university’s democratic system.»

A long road to rector

Stølen said it was an honor to lead his election team. «We met each other early and late, seven days a week,» he said.

But it was not always a given that he would run. «I started thinking about it when I was walking around Kyoto with my wife. We were playing around with ideas of how to be better engaged with the university,» he explained. «There was a lot to organize, and I had support from my family the whole way. This [election] has taken its toll, but they’ve always given me a lot of support.»