Candidate team Gjesdal and Whittaker

Presentation of Candidate team Frøystein Gjesdal and Sunniva Whittaker, and Vice Rector candidates.

08.04.2013 - Ed.

Candidate for Rector: Frøystein Gjesdal
Frøystein Gjesdal (born 1950) comes from Bergen and is a professor at the Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law. He received an MBA from NHH in 1971 and defended his doctorate at Stanford University in 1979.

Gjesdal's research and teaching is within incentive theory and accounting. He has made internationally recognised contributions in the field of principal-agent theory and significant contributions to theoretical clarification and practical application in the area of profitability measurement and valuation.

Gjesdal has been actively involved in financial regulation and control. He was a member of the Committee on Evaluation of Accounting (2003) and chairman of the expert committee that advises the FSA on issues of international accounting standards (IFRS). Gjesdal has also had a significant international involvement, and is currently a member of the Standing Scientific Committee, European Accounting Association and the Accounting and Auditing Practices Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network on behalf of Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global ("Oljefondet").

Gjesdal has been of great importance to the development of Management Science as a research and teaching area in Norway, and has helped to give the subject a practical foundation through his contact with the accounting and auditing industry. Gjesdal has for many years been key to teaching in the accounting area on several levels at NHH.

Gjesdal has held a number of positions at NHH, including the position as head of the Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law, and as a member of the NHH Board.

Deputy Rector Candidate: Sunniva Whittaker
Sunniva Whittaker (born 1960) was born in Trondheim and grew up in Canada and France. She is a professor at the Department of Professional and Intercultural Communication.

Whittaker has a Cand. philol. degree from the University of Bergen in 1989 and defended her doctorate at the UiB in 1998. In addition, she has master's degree in conference interpreting from the Ecole Supérieure d'Interpreten et de Traducteurs (ESIT), Paris.

Whittaker's research and teaching is in French terminology, translation and intercultural communication.

She was appointed head of the Department of Professional and Intercultural Communication in 2003. From 2010 to 2012 she was head of the National Research School in Linguistics and Philology.

In addition, Whittaker was a member of the former Programme Committee for research and doctoral education (PFD) and is now a member of the Programme Committee for the doctoral programme (PDU) and Working Environment Committee (AMU). She has been NHH representative of the EU Network Optimal (Optimising translator training).

If elected, Whittaker would have a particular responsibility for developing and enhancing the school's international network.

Should the Gjesdal/Whittaker team be elected, they would like to expand the Directorate with two vice presidents, respectively, Vice-Rector for Research and Vice Rector for Faculty Management.

Candidate for Vice Rector for Research: Helge Thorbjørnsen
Helge Thorbjørnsen (born 1975) comes from Stavanger and is a professor at the Department of Strategy and Management. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Bergen in 1998, is Cand. merc. from NHH in 2000 and defended his doctoral degree at NHH in 2003.

Thorbjørnsen's research and teaching is within consumer psychology, brand management and service innovation. He has been dean of NHH's doctoral programme since 2011 and head of the National Research School in business since 2012. As Vice-Rector for Research and Dean of the doctoral program, Thorbjørnsen would have a particular responsibility for developing professional and academic activities related to research and research training.

Candidate for Vice Rector for Faculty Management: Gunnar E. Christensen
Gunnar E. Christensen (born 1951) comes from Bergen and is Associate Professor at the Institute of Strategy and Management. He received an MBA from NHH in 1978 and defended his doctoral thesis at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1987.

Christensen researches and teaches in information management and has a special interest in e-commerce and the opportunities this provides for value creation.

He was head of the Department of Strategy and Management from 1999 to 2001. He was Chairman / Vice Chairman of the international committee at NHH for several years, and has been Deputy Rector at NHH since 2005.

As Vice-Rector for Faculty Management, Christensen would have a particular responsibility for developing and enhancing the school's strategies and activities related to the hiring of faculty members.