Hermod Skånland (15 June 1925 – 16 April 2011) was a Norwegian economist and civil servant, who served as the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the Central Bank of Norway from 1985 to 1993.

Biography

Skånland was born in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

as a son of school director Peder Skånland (1885–1958) and teacher Margit Maurstad (1893–1977). He finished his secondary education in 1944 and graduated with the cand.oecon. degree in 1951. He started working as a researcher in

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

, but already after one year he was hired in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

as a consultant. This was not uncontroversial, as he was arguably the least experienced of the applicants. Already in 1953 he had a tenure as acting assistant secretary. He remained in the Ministry of Finance for several years, except for studies in the United States in the mid-1950s. He was promoted to assistant secretary in 1959, and in 1960 he was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state. This happened as another deputy under-secretary,

Sigurd Lorentzen Sigurd Juell Lorentzen (5 August 1916 – 25 January 1979) was a Norwegian judge and civil servant. He was born in Sunndal Municipality, and was a brother of professor Gustav Fredrik Lorentzen. He married judge Lelia Marie Loe in 1957. They reside ...

, left the ministry,

Truls Glesne Truls Glesne (8 April 1916 – 28 August 1971) was a Norwegian economist and civil servant. He graduated from the University of Oslo with the cand.oecon. degree in 1940. He worked as a secretary in the Ministry of Provisioning from 1941 to 1942, ...

succeeded Lorentzen and Skånland succeeded Glesne. Historian Einar Lie has noted that this shuffle "gave room for Hermod Skånland, the ' wonderboy' of the economists". Skånland served as the

of the Central Bank of Norway from 1985 to 1993, having served since 1971 as the Deputy Governor. Already as Deputy Governor he held a strong position, particularly when Governor

Knut Getz Wold Knut Getz Wold (3 August 1915 – 9 October 1987) was a Norwegian economist and civil servant, who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Norway from 1970 to 1985. He was born in Verdal Municipality in Nordre Trondheim county, as a son ...

became ill. In 1983, as Deputy Governor, Skånland led the selection committee Tempoutvalget which conducted a public inquiry for the

Ministry of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

titled "The future of the petroleum industry". The contributions of this committee played a significant role in the establishment of the Government Petroleum Fund in 1990, which is now known as the

Government Pension Fund of Norway The Government Pension Fund of Norway () is the sovereign wealth fund collective owned by the government of Norway. It consists of two entirely separate sovereign wealth funds: the Government Pension Fund Global (or Norges Bank Investment Mana ...

. Skånland was also a member of several public boards in this period, as well as chairman of Statistics Norway from 1981 to 1993, and board member of NTNF from 1979 to 1985 and the

Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also becam ...

from 1976 to 1988. From 1994 to 2003 he was an assisting professor at the BI School of Management. He has also been vice president of the Norwegian branch of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. He is a member of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

. He was decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1987), and held foreign orders of knighthood. He received the

Fritt Ord Honorary Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award () and the Fritt Ord Honorary Award (). ...

in 1980, and a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

to him was issued in 1994. In 1998 he was appointed as a Commander with Star of Finland's Order of the Lion and as a Commander with Star of the Icelandic

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 ...

. He received the Luxembourg Order of Merit (Commander) and in 1990 he was awarded the 1998 Economist Award. Skånland died at Fagertun nursing home in Gran, at the age of 85. He was survived by one daughter.

References

External links

Family genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skanland, Hermod 1925 births 2011 deaths Norwegian social democrats Norwegian economists Norwegian civil servants Governors of the Central Bank of Norway Academic staff of BI Norwegian Business School Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Recipients of the Order of the Falcon People from Tromsø