President Stefan
Bengtsson has now decided to appoint Fredrik Nilsson as Vice President for
three years, with the possibility of an extension for another three years.
"Campus and
sustainable development are important areas for Chalmers, and it will be
exciting to contribute to them. I think we can further strengthen our profile
and develop the importance of the physical space and the premises in supporting
our operations. We have fantastic campuses with fantastic locations, and we can
do more in the interaction between them and the rest of the city,” say Fredrik
Nilsson.
As the role is
completely new, Fredrik Nilsson will also work on developing it.
"It will be
part of the assignment and we need to take a firm look at campus and local
supply. There are many stakeholders and it is important to listen and set a
clear long-term plan, to dare to point out a direction. It will be challenging,
but exciting,” he says.
Clearer focus on campus issues
President Stefan
Bengtsson sees the new Vice President position as important for the future.
"There are
great development opportunities on our campuses. Therefore, we want a clearer
focus on these issues, and it is thus important that the area of responsibility
is defined by the President’s Group. During the pandemic, when we were working
away from campus, its importance to Chalmers became even clearer than before.”
Fredrik Nilsson's
assignment also includes being responsible for coordinating Chalmers' work in
sustainable development.
"At
Chalmers, we have worked for a long time to promote sustainable development in
society. It is an area that is now higher on the agenda than ever, where our
indirect effect through our education and research is the most crucial but
where our direct influence is also important," says Stefan Bengtsson.
Broad and long-term sustainability
Fredrik Nilsson
believes that Chalmers has world-leading expertise in the field.
"It's about
coordinating and allowing society to meet the expertise, and also building a
campus that takes on sustainability broadly and long-term – in addition to
energy and resource efficiency, also economically, socially and culturally – to
become a role model”.
Fredrik Nilsson
will start as Vice President on 1 January 2022. Recruitment of a new head of
department to the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering has begun. In
the period until the recruitment is finished, Deputy Head of Department Stefan
Forsaeus Nilsson will be acting Head of department.
In parallel, work
is also underway to recruit a new Vice-President for Utilisation after the
departure of Fredrik Hörstedt.
Text: Erik Krång
Photo: Johan Bodell