Halla Tómasdóttir (; born 11 October 1968) is an Icelandic former businesswoman and politician serving as the seventh

president of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

since 2024. She is Iceland's second female president, after

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (; born 15 April 1930) is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996, the first woman to hold the position and the first in the world to be democratically elected president of ...

. Halla was previously a public speaker. Before becoming president, she was the chief executive of The B Team, a global nonprofit group.

Early life and education

Halla graduated from Verzlunarskóli Íslands in 1986, and afterwards moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as an

international student International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

, where she attended

Evansville Central High School Evansville Central High School, also known as Central High, is a public high school on the north side of Evansville, Indiana. It is the oldest high school in continuous operation west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was established in 1854 as Eva ...

and graduated from

Auburn University at Montgomery Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) is a public university in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Governed by the Auburn University Board of Trustees as a member of the Auburn University system, it was established by an act of the Alabama Le ...

with a bachelor's degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, with a focus on management and

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

, in 1993. She received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree from the

Thunderbird School of Global Management The Thunderbird School of Global Management (or simply Thunderbird) is a global leadership, management, and business school at Arizona State University, a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It was founded in 1946 as an i ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1995.

Early career

Halla is a former member of the founding team of

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; , , ) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students. It is Charter school, chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the Confederation of Icelandi ...

in 1998. She also co-founded Auður Capital, an investment firm. She served as the chief executive of The B Team, a global nonprofit group of business and civil society leaders working to promote business practices focused on humanity and the climate.

2016 presidential campaign

Halla announced her candidacy for the presidency of Iceland on 17 March 2016. She received 27.9% of the vote, the second-highest share after that of the winner, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, who received 39.1%.

Presidency (2024–present)

On 1 June 2024, Halla won the Icelandic presidential election, defeating former prime minister

Katrín Jakobsdóttir Katrín Jakobsdóttir (; born 1 February 1976) is an Icelandic former politician who served as the prime minister of Iceland from December 2017 to April 2024 and was a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency from 2007 to 202 ...

by a roughly 10-point margin. Her campaign focused on issues such as the effects of social media on the mental health of youth, tourism development, and the role of artificial intelligence. She took office on 1 August 2024.

Personal life

Halla was born in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. She is married to Björn Skúlason. They have two children. Halla's parents are Tómas Björn Þórhallsson, a plumber, and Kristjana Sigurðardóttir, a social educator.

Honours

National honours

* : **

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Master and Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(1 August 2024)

Foreign honours

* : **

Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

(8 October 2024) * : ** Order Sint Olaf 1 kl

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (8 April 2025) * : ** Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar

Knight of the

Royal Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim (; '' Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is the highest order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Sweden. It was created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Ord ...

(6 May 2025)

References

External links

* * Living people 1968 births Presidents of Iceland Halla Tomasdottir Halla Tomasdottir Women investors Nonprofit chief executives Female heads of state Politicians from Reykjavík 21st-century businesswomen Women presidents in Europe 21st-century women presidents Halla Tomasdottir Halla Tomasdottir Halla Tomasdottir Thunderbird School of Global Management alumni Icelandic expatriates in the United States {{Iceland-bio-stub