Geir Lundestad

Geir Lundestad (17 January 1945 – 22 September 2023) was a Norwegian historian, who until 2014 served as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute when Olav Njølstad took over.

In this capacity, he also served as the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

However, he was not a member of the committee itself.

Born in Sulitjelma on 17 January 1945, Lundestad was a son of rector Bjarne Lundestad and Anny Elvine Nilsen-Nygaard.

He married Aase Synnøve Liland in 1967.

Lundestad studied history at the University of Oslo and University of Tromsø, graduating in 1970 with a cand.philol. degree and in 1976 with a doctorate respectively.

From 1974 to 1990, he held various positions as Lecturer and Professor at the University of Tromsø before beginning his positions with the Norwegian Nobel Institute and Committee.

Subsequently, he was associated with the University of Oslo as an Adjunct Professor of International History.

Lundestad spent several years in the United States as a research fellow, at Harvard University, from 1978 to 1979 and again in 1983, and at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., between 1988 and 1989.

From 1990 to 2014 he served as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, as well as being secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

During this period the Nobel Institute became a significant institution for research on contemporary history, where Lundestad contributed in his capacity as expert on American history and the cold war.

He was also a proponent for establishing the Nobel Peace Center, which opened in 2005.

Lundestad was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

He was decorated Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 2008.

Geir Lundestad died on 22 September 2023, at the age of 78.