60 Year anniversary of Háskólasjóður Eimskipafélagsins
A total of 199 PhD students at the University of Iceland (UI) have received grants from the Fund since regular allocations began. Total allocation from the Fund currently amounts to ISK 1.8 billion, with ISK 500 thereof allocated to the construction of the UI’s Háskólatorg in 2006 and 2007. The Fund is Iceland’s largest endowment fund.
Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland:
“The Háskólasjóður Eimskipafélagsins fund opened a new chapter in the funding of doctoral studies in Iceland. Allocation of PhD grants from the Fund, which began in 2006, was a game-changer for research-based learning at UI, enabling the school to place greater emphasis on research and innovation. The number of doctoral graduates multiplied and UI’s measurable success in research and innovation grew significantly, providing an important contribution to the domestic economy and community. This change ushered in an era where UI came into its own as a thriving research university. I would also like to mention the Fund’s important contribution to the construction of Háskólatorg, the University Centre. Háskólatorg was a marked improvement to the main campus, providing a central meeting point that was previously lacking. Háskólatorg is now the heart of our campus, and it is impossible to imagine UI without it.”
Grettir Eggertsson was the visionary who worked to create the Fund in memory of Icelandic emigrants to the USA and Canada who participated in the establishment of shipping company Eimskipafélagið. Grettir’s father, Árni Eggertsson, was among the Icelandic emigrants who were most involved in the establishment of Eimskipafélagið in 1914. In light of changing times and conditions, Grettir proposed that all share capital of Icelandic emigrants in Eimskipafélagið should be repatriated to Iceland in support of the company’s operation but also as a charitable fund. He chose to contribute “to the success of the University of Iceland, and to support promising students at the University in accordance with the decision of the University Council”, so the charter of the Fund, confirmed by the President of Iceland 11 November 1964. This purpose led to the naming of the Fund, Háskólasjóður hf. Eimskipafélag Íslands.
Photo: The Board of Directors of the Fund: Jón Th. Sigurgeirsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Landsbankinn, Lilja B. Einarsdóttir, CEO of Landsbankinn, Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, Vilhelm Már Thorsteinsson, CEO of Eimskipafélagið, and Vigdís S. Hrafnkelsdóttir, Managing Director of the Fund.
