Here are UiA's new deans
UiA has appointed deans to all the faculties and the Teacher Education Unit for the next four years.
The new deans will be the first deans at UiA to have unified management responsibility for their respective units. Previously, the faculties had two-tier management, but starting from the new year, the deans will have overall responsibility for their faculties and will report to both the Rector and the University Director.
All positions were advertised before the summer, and the University received 34 applications for the seven positions.
The new deans for each faculty, who will assume their roles on 1 January 2024, are introduced below.
Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences
Anders Johan W. Andersen (aged 58, resides in Arendal) is a professor of Mental Health Care.
He has a PhD in Public Health Science.
Andersen has served as the dean of the same faculty since 2016.
Prior to that, he was Head of the Department of Psychosocial Health for three years.
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Faculty of Humanities and Education
Ingunn Breistein (aged 60, residing in Kristiansand) is a professor of Church History.
She has previously served as head at the Department of Religion, Philosophy and History at UiA.
Since 2016, she has been working as the rector at Ansgar University College.
Faculty of Fine Arts
Marit Wergeland (aged 48, residing in Kristiansand) has a degree in Drama and Theatre from NTNU.
Wergeland has also completed UiA's associate professor programme.
She has been serving as the dean of the same faculty since 2016.
She also has experience as a dramaturg and assistant director from Denmark.
Faculty of Social Sciences
Leif Skiftenes Flak (aged 49, residing in Grimstad) is a professor of Information Systems at UiA.
He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Aalborg.
Previously, he served as Head of the Department of Information Systems for 5 years.
He played a pivotal role in establishing and leading CeDiT, an interdisciplinary research centre at UiA.
Faculty of Engineering and Science
Vikas Thakur (aged 44, residing in Trondheim) holds a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering.
Since 2015, he has been a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
He previously served as the head of NTNU's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Currently, he holds the position of vice-dean for sustainability at the Faculty of Engineering at NTNU.
The School of Business and Law at UiA
Kristin Wallevik (aged 58, residing in Kristiansand) holds a PhD in International Management from Copenhagen Business School.
Her previous roles include serving as the managing director of the research institute Agderforskning, dean at the same faculty, and CEO at the research institute Norce.
Both the university management and the University Board were aware during the selection process that in 2022, Wallevik resigned from her position as CEO of the research institute NORCE due to a civil legal case involving her spouse. Wallevik has been transparent about this matter throughout the process, and it has also been covered in the media. UiA's assessment is that this case will not affect Wallevik's ability to lead the School of Business and Law as dean.
The Teacher Education Unit
Gunn Bjørnsen (aged 60, residing in Grimstad) previously served as head of the Department of International Studies and Interpreting at the Faculty of Education and International Studies, OsloMet.
She later became associate professor of journalism at the same university.
Since 2021, she has been serving as the programme coordinator for research and development in the teacher training programmes at UiA.