Carin Margareta Boalt ( Åkerman; April 19, 1912 – April 28, 1999) was a Swedish professor of Building Function Analysis at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. She was head of research at the Home Research Institute (a predecessor of the

Swedish Consumer Agency Swedish Consumer Agency ( sv, Konsumentverket) is a Swedish government agency that answers to the Ministry of Finance. Its director general is also designated Consumer ombudsman (''Konsumentombudsmannen, KO''). The agency, with a staff of arou ...

) from 1944 until 1956.

Personal life

She was born Carin Margareta Åkerman on Molstaberg, Vårdinge parish (today located in

Södertälje Municipality Södertälje Municipality (''Södertälje kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Södertälje. It borders to Lake Mälaren in the north and the Baltic Sea in the south, and withi ...

) to proprietor Karl Åkerman and his wife Lydia ( Löfström). She married sociology professor Gunnar Boalt in 1935, with whom she had five children. The couple divorced in 1957.

Education

Boalt began her studies in Stockholm and received her master's degree in botany, zoology and chemistry from

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

in 1935. She later received a licentiate degree from

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Kooperativa Förbundet KF ( sv, Kooperativa Förbundet, "Co-operative Union") is a federation of consumer co-operatives in Sweden and a retail group, with groceries as its core business. History KF was founded in 1899 by 41 local consumer co-operatives in order to s ...

running a study on eating habits. Between 1939 and 1948 she worked as an assistant under Ernst Abramsson at the Government Institute for Public Health. In 1944 she became head of research at the newly established , where a central focus was occupational physiology studies. Conclusions of these studies included that kitchens in many homes were poorly designed. The study of the way homes are constructed is central to the field of Building Function Analysis Boalt would go on to pioneer. After leaving the HRI in 1957 she continued studies of housework, publishing ''1000 husmödrar om hemarbetet'' (1000 house wives on housework) in 1959 after working in collaboration with

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsib ...

. She continued to study sociology and statistics while working for the National Institute of Building Research. In the 1960s the newly formed Lunds Tekniska Högskola was seeking a chair in the novel field of Building Function Analysis. Boalt was selected to chair and began in 1964, making her the first female professor in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. Due to the field being very new she had to create much of the material herself. LTH became part of

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. After her retirement she became engaged in disability rights issues, herself having become disabled following treatment for breast cancer. She also frequently engaged in foreign aid work, including a project in Tanzania. Work with disabled children in Tanzania was also a deep engagement of hers. Boalt remained in Stockholm until her death, passing away in 1999 at the age of 87.

Legacy

In 2022 politicians in

Lund Municipality Lund Municipality ( sv, Lunds kommun) is a municipality in Scania County, southern Sweden. Its seat is the city of Lund. As most municipalities in Sweden, the territory of municipality consists of many former local government units, united in a ...

voted to name a road, Carin Boalts väg, after her on the

Faculty of Engineering Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument), an instrument or warra ...

campus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boalt, Carin 1912 births 1999 deaths Swedish women academics Academic staff of Lund University Architecture educators History of women in Sweden Lund University alumni Stockholm University alumni