Ingrid Schulerud (born 8 July 1959) is a
Norwegian diplomat.
She served as Norway's ambassador to
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
from 2015 to 2019.
Personal life
Early life
Schulerud is the daughter of
Mentz Schulerud, an author and radio personality well known for his encyclopedic knowledge of their home city of
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. Her aunt—Mentz' sister—was the
children's book
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
author
Anne-Cath. Vestly.
[
]
Education
Schulerud attended Oslo Cathedral School, where she met Jens when they were both 17 years old. Here, she defeated her future husband in the election for Representative to the National Students’ Union, running for the Socialist Left Party.[
]
Family life
Schulerud is married to Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, and the former Norwegian Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. Being the spouse of the Norwegian Prime Minister during two different periods of time, (2000–2001 and 2005–2013), she has chosen a somewhat withdrawn social position. During the first period she did not accompany her husband on any official state visits for over a year, until they visited India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
together in April 2001. In general though, she has chosen to stay out of the media's scrutiny primarily to shield her children. The couple have a son and a daughter.[
]
Career
After travels in Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, Schulerud wanted to work for developmental organisations; however, she was engaged by the Ministry of International Development to study the environmental impact of World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
projects. This led her to break off her ongoing master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
, and undergo the basic training for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that she finished in 1988.
In 1990, while she was stationed at the Norwegian embassy in Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hungary, her husband was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment, and this caused her return home to Norway. Subsequently, she has held different positions in the Ministry, mostly with matters relating to the Baltic countries and Central Europe.
She was the Deputy Director General for Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
and EEA-financing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
in Norway until becoming the Norwegian Ambassador to Belgium in April 2015.
References
External links
Article from VG, on job appointment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulerud, Ingrid
Living people
1959 births
Diplomats from Oslo
People educated at Oslo Cathedral School
Norwegian expatriates in Hungary
Spouses of prime ministers of Norway
Ambassadors of Norway to Belgium
Stoltenberg family
Norwegian women ambassadors