Olaf Martin Devik (20 December 1886 – 14 April 1987) was a Norwegian physicist and civil servant. He worked in academia until 1938, when he became an official in the Norwegian Ministry of Church and Education. During the German occupation of Norway, he fled the country and worked with its government in exile. After the war, he returned to the education ministry until his retirement.

Family and early life

Devik was born in

Gjerdrum Gjerdrum () is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. Gjerdrum borders the municipalities of Nannestad, Nittedal, and Ullensaker, and Lillestrøm. The administrative centre of the mu ...

to headmaster Ole Gabriel Johnsen Devik (1856–1941) and his wife Marthe Klausdatter Lønnebotn (1857–1929). His parents hailed from Gloppen and Hyllestad. He took the examen artium at Kristiania Cathedral School in 1904, and graduated from the Royal Frederick University with the

cand.real. Candidatus realium or candidata realium (abbreviated cand. real.) is a former academic degree used in Norway, and conferred in mathematics and natural sciences. It was abolished in 1985. There was originally no set duration for the completion of th ...

degree in 1911. Starting in 1908 he worked as an assistant to Vilhelm Bjerknes in

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

. He was subsequently an assistant to Kristian Birkeland from 1911, studied at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

from 1913 to 1914, and was hired at the Royal Frederick University in 1914. From 1915 to 1918, he worked and lived at Haldde in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

, together with Ole Andreas Krogness, who ran an aurora borealis observatory. The two successfully suggested the establishment of a geophysical institute in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

; both moved there to work in 1918. Their work culminated in the establishment of , the weather forecast for

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

, in 1922. In 1922 Devik was appointed to the position of Physics Docent at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

. From 1923 to 1932 he held lectures in physics at . Together with school teacher Sverre Bruun he wrote textbooks for schools; (1928) and (1933). Their book was reissued many times, and competed with Daniel Isaachsen and Gabriel Gabrielsen Holtsmark's . Bruun and Devik released (1939, later reissued) and (1964, later reissued). In 1931 Devik published the thesis , which earned him the

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree in 1932. In the same year he started working for the Chr. Michelsen Institute.

Government service

In 1938 Devik left academia and became deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Church and Education. Following the German invasion and

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

in April 1940, Devik continued at the request of Norway's exiled government, but he was fired in 1941. He was offered a professorship, but declined and spent the next year as a freelance lecturer. In 1942 he was fired from that job too, and in 1943 he fled to the United Kingdom where he worked for the government-in-exile for the rest of the war. After the war he returned to the Ministry of Church and Education, retiring in 1956. The years saw the beginning of the huge growth in higher education in Norway. Among others, the

Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund ( no, Statens lånekasse for utdanning) is a government agency that allocates loans and grants to Norwegian and certain foreign students for their education. Lånekassen was established in 1947. Lånekass ...

, the University of Bergen and

SINTEF SINTEF ( no, Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning), headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, is an independent research organization founded in 1950 that conducts contract research and development projects. SINTEF has 2000 employees from 7 ...

were created. While studying he chaired the

Norwegian Christian Student Association Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

for a semester. He was a board member of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

from 1934. After the war he was a board member of the

Foundation for Student Life in Oslo The Foundation for Student Life in Oslo and Akershus ( no, Studentsamskipnaden i Oslo og Akershus, SiO) is a student welfare organisation in Oslo, Norway. It was known as the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo until January 2011, when it expanded ...

, and he was a member of

NTNF The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( no, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd) or NTNF was the first of five research councils established in Norway. It existed from 1946 until the end of 1992, when the f ...

from 1946 to 1959 and

NAVF The Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (Norges almenvitenskapelige forskningsråd, NAVF) was one of Norway's five research councils. It was established in 1949. NAVF was responsible for funding the natural sciences. In 1993, t ...

from 1949 to 1957. He was a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters from 1928, the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

from 1932 and the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences ( no, Norges Tekniske Vitenskapsakademi, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Aca ...

from 1956. He was an honorary member of the society , and published a small 50th anniversary history of the society in 1967 together with Peter Martin Thrane. He was appointed to the First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, as a Commander of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

and as a Commander of the Order of the Polar Star. He was married to Dagny Othilie Hansen (1892–1988) since July 1915, and died in April 1987 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devik, Olaf 1886 births 1987 deaths People from Gjerdrum Norwegian physicists Norwegian geophysicists Norwegian meteorologists University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the Norwegian Institute of Technology Norwegian civil servants Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences Norwegian Christians Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star Norwegian centenarians Men centenarians