Hermod Skånland
Hermod Skånland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Tromsø, Norway |
| Died | April 16, 2011 (aged 85) Gran, Norway |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, government official |
| Years active | 1951–2003 |
| Known for | Governor of the Central Bank of Norway (1985–1993) |
Hermod Skånland (15 June 1925 – 16 April 2011) was a distinguished Norwegian economist and government official who held the position of Governor at the Central Bank of Norway between 1985 and 1993.
Biography
Originating from Tromsø, Skånland was the son of Peder Skånland, a school director, and Margit Maurstad, a teacher. He completed his secondary schooling in 1944 and obtained a cand.oecon. degree in 1951. Shortly after working at Statistics Norway, he entered the Ministry of Finance as a consultant despite having limited prior experience. By 1953, he advanced to acting assistant secretary, earned promotion to assistant secretary in 1959, and ascended to deputy under-secretary of state in 1960, establishing himself as a prominent economist within the ministry.
Before assuming the role of Governor in 1985, Skånland was Deputy Governor of Norges Bank starting in 1971. During Governor Knut Getz Wold’s illness, he played an essential role in managing central bank affairs. Additionally, in 1983, he led the Tempoutvalget public commission concerning Norway’s petroleum sector for the Ministry of Energy. This initiative substantially contributed to the establishment of the Government Petroleum Fund (currently known as the Government Pension Fund of Norway) in 1990. Beyond these roles, he chaired Statistics Norway from 1981 to 1993, served on the boards of NTNF (1979–1985) and the Nordic Investment Bank (1976–1988), and was a faculty member at BI School of Management between 1994 and 2003. Politically aligned with the Norwegian Labour Party, he also held the position of vice president for UNICEF Norway.
Throughout his career, Skånland received numerous accolades including being named Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1987, awarded the Fritt Ord Honorary Award in 1980, honored as Commander with Star of Finland’s Order of the Lion in 1998, recipient of Iceland’s Order of the Falcon in 1998, Commander of Luxembourg’s Order of Merit, and winner of the Economist Award in 1990. He died at age 85 in Gran and was survived by one daughter.