About Geir Lundestad

Geir Lundestad (born January 17, 1945) is a Norwegian historian, who until 2014 served as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute when Olav Njølstad took over. In this capacity, he also served as the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. However, he is not a member of the committee itself.

Born in Sulitjelma, Lundestad studied history at the University of Oslo and University of Tromsø, graduating in 1970 with a cand.philol. degree and in 1976 with a doctorate respectively. From 1974 to 1990, he held various positions as Lecturer and Professor at the University of Tromsø before beginning his positions with the Norwegian Nobel Institute and Committee. Subsequently, he has been associated with the University of Oslo as an Adjunct Professor of International History. Lundestad spent several years in the United States as a research fellow, at Harvard University, from 1978 to 1979 and again in 1983, and at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., between 1988 and 1989.