NHH receives record donation
The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation has donated NOK 24 million to NHH. It is the biggest single donation ever received by a Norwegian business school. Funding for a new high-tech learning centre at NHH, the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Centre, is thereby ensured.
20.12.2012 - Ed.
The centre will be established by making alterations to the Dag Coward auditorium. It will have a total floor space of approx. 600 sq. metres and will house a specially designed auditorium, group rooms, workplaces and mingling areas - all equipped with state-of-the art, high-tech equipment.
The goal of the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation is to contribute to the realisation of projects of a high international standard.
'We have invested heavily in medical research and are also engaged in sponsoring several important cultural initiatives. We were on the lookout for a project in higher education where we could make a difference,' says Hans Petter Jebsen, chair of the board of the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation.
NHH, on its part, had plans to establish an advanced learning and conference centre, but lacked funding. With this donation, NHH will take an important step towards realising its vision of being a business school of a high international standard.
'We set very high store by this donation. NHH has big ambitions and, if we are to achieve them, we must be at the forefront in all areas. The centre will provide us with physical facilities that put us on a par with the top-flight international institutions,' says Rector Jan I Haaland of NHH.
'Together with the new building that will open in autumn 2013, the centre will help to ensure that NHH has fully satisfactory teaching premises at all educational levels, from bachelor to PhD.'
The total cost is estimated to be NOK 34 million. NOK 4 million from the foundation has been earmarked for investments in state-of-the-art teaching technology.
'We hope that the donation can help to make NHH's research and teaching more international. The goal is that the centre will be a high-tech arena with a virtual lecture hall that will make it easier to attract international researchers, either as guest lecturers or as opponents in connection with public defences of doctoral theses,' Jebsen says.
Building work on the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Centre will start in January 2013 and it is scheduled for completion in September 2013.
Facts:
The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Centre will have 642 square metres of floor space divided between three floors. The centre will comprise a specially designed auditorium, group rooms, a library and common areas for learning, group work and receptions. NHH will focus strongly on teaching technology at the centre, which will serve as an arena for experimentation in and the development of new educational methods. The centre will be established by making alterations to existing buildings, and it will be located near the new building. The premises will be used for teaching in experience-based master's degrees (executive MBA), in-house management development courses, researcher seminars targeting the corporate segment and public defences of doctoral theses.
The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation was established in honour of Kristian Gerhard Jebsen and his contribution to Norwegian and international shipping and business. The foundation was established in 2009 and, at the turn of the year 2011/2012, its capital amounted to NOK 964 million. So far, the foundation has donated funds for a total of NOK 238.7 million. Donations to research have largely been made to large projects in medical research and maritime/marine research. In autumn 2011, the foundation decided on its first cultural investment. The common denominator for the foundation's engagement is the goal of contributing to the realisation of projects of top international standard.
Donations: The donation, which is based on income from Kristian Gerhard Jebsen's international business activities, is part of a long-standing tradition in Bergen. Historically, such donations and initiatives from the business community in Bergen have played a very important role in the development of local higher education institutions. The establishment of NHH in 1936 is a good example of this. Another is the building of the University Library in Bergen, which was based on a donation from JL Mowinckel's shipping company in 1961.
Contact information:
Kåre Rommetveit, Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation, tel. (+47) 908 57 399
Rector Jan I Haaland, tel. (+47) 55 95 92 17/957 96 865
Acting Communications Director Kristin Risvand Mo, tel. (+47) 55 95 96 61/915 99 661
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