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Norwegian ambassador Knut Vollebaek earns honorary degree
April 22, 2003
St. Olaf College will honor Ambassador of Norway to the United States, His Excellency Knut Vollebaek, with an honorary degree as part of Honors Day celebrations on Friday, May 2. The ceremony will take place in Boe Memorial Chapel at 10:10 a.m.
The event will also recognize St. Olaf students who have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or above, students receiving special honors and senior members of honor societies.
 St. Olaf College will honor Ambassador of Norway to the United States, His Excellency Knut Vollebaek, with an honorary degree as part of Honors Day celebrations on Friday, May 2. |
"It is an honor for St. Olaf to be able to recognize Ambassador Vollebaek's work as Norwegian Ambassador and, over the years, as an advocate for peaceful resolution of some of the world's thorniest political situations of the last decade," says St. Olaf President Christopher M. Thomforde. "The ambassador represents Norway as a nation that focuses on peaceful development of resources, strategic use of military forces for sustaining peace, and dialogue and negotiation to resolve disputes."
According to St. Olaf Associate Dean Solveig Zempel, Vollebaek "has clearly made important contributions in areas of peacemaking and diplomacy. He is also very interested in increasing opportunities for educational exchange." These criteria helped qualify his candidacy for the degree, for which Zempel nominated him.
Named Ambassador of Norway to the United States in March 2001, Vollebaek has lived a life of diplomacy since joining the Norwegian Foreign Service in 1973. He has served as Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-2000) and as Norwegian delegate to the United Nations (1982-83, 1986-88).
As chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (1999), Vollebęk played a key negotiations role during the war in Kosovo. He developed close relationships with American political officials, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She praised Norway for its global efforts "to further the cause of peace" and thanked Vollebaek, then the country's foreign minister, for providing "crucial leadership for peace."
Last summer Vollebęk testified at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, with whom he had met several times in an attempt to broker peace. Vollebaek also assisted in peace negotiations between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, resulting in the Oslo Accord of 1994.
After earning a political science degree from the University of Oslo in 1967, Vollebaek spent a year at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studied Spanish language and culture in Madrid, and French language and culture in Paris. He received his master's of science in economics from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Norway.
Vollebaek has been stationed in India, Spain and Zimbabwe. He was also ambassador to the Central American States, residing in Costa Rica.
Vollebęk, 57, is married to Ellen Sofie Vollebęk, who has also built a career around public service. They have one son.
St. Olaf College is a liberal arts institution that fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with nearly two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.
