Nils Hasselmo (July 2, 1931 – January 23, 2019) was the thirteenth president of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, serving from 1988 to 1997. He went on to become the president of the

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...

from 1998 to 2006.

Background

Hasselmo was born in Köla parish in

Värmland County Värmland County () is a county or '' län'' in west central Sweden. It borders the Swedish counties of Dalarna, Örebro and Västra Götaland, as well as the Norwegian counties of Østfold, Akershus and Innlandet to the west. The title of Duke ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Scandinavian languages and literature at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, and did his military service in the Royal Signal Corps, including officer's training. As a scholarship student in the United States in 1956–57, he received a B.A. at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. He finished a Ph.D. in linguistics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1961.

Biography

After teaching at Augustana and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, Hasselmo joined the faculty of the

in 1965. During the next 18 years at Minnesota, he served as chair of the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature and director of the Center for Northwest European Language and Area Studies, associate dean and executive officer of the College of Liberal Arts, and vice president for administration and planning. In 1983, he left Minnesota to serve for five and a half years as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. He returned to the

as its 13th president in December 1988. After serving as president at the University of Minnesota, he moved to Washington D.C. to take the position of president of the

. Hasselmo's scholarly work focused on the study of bilingualism and language contact, including books and articles on the

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

in America. He lectured in

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in 1968–69, serving with visiting appointments at Scandinavian universities. Hasselmo served as chair of the

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy, and advocacy organization of public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and higher education organizations. It has member ...

, the Big Ten Council of Presidents, and the Minnesota Higher Education Advisory Council. He was president of the

Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) is a scholarly society that aims to advance the study, teaching and research in America of the languages, literature, history, culture and society of the Scandinavian or Nordic countries ...

and the Swedish-American Historical Society, and chairman of the Swedish Council of America, an umbrella organization with 300 affiliates. He served on the board of the

National Merit Scholarship Corporation The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...

, the Universities' Research Association, the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most not ...

, the Council on Library and Information Resources,

The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Swe ...

, and a number of other scholarly, educational, civic, and cultural organizations. Hasselmo received honors such as the Royal Order of the North Star by the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

, 1973; King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

's Bicentennial Medal in Gold, 1976; and the Sandburg Medal, 1989; he was selected as

Swedish-American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

of the Year by the Swedish government and the

Vasa Order of America Vasa Order of America () is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization. The organization seeks to benefit its members by sharing Swedish and Scandinavian culture and heritage. Philosophy The objects and purposes of this ...

in 1991. He was elected to membership in several Swedish scholarly societies, and holds honorary doctorates from Uppsala University (1979), Augustana College, and

North Park University North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side in the North Park community area and enrolls more than 2,600 undergr ...

. Nils Hasselmo died on January 23, 2019, after a more than 20-year battle with prostate cancer. He is survived by his second wife, Ann Die Hasselmo, three children, a stepdaughter, nine grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Nils Hasselmo Hall

Metro Transit bus stop at Coffman Memorial Union

Following his retirement as President of the University of Minnesota, the Basic Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Building was renamed the Nils Hasselmo Hall.

Nils Hasselmo Papers

The papers of Nils and Patricia Hasselmo, covering the period 1960s–1997, are located in University of Minnesota Archives.

References

External links