Appointment
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ola Hovland to the position of Chief Operating Officer at UWC Red Cross Nordic.
The Chief Operating Officer will report to, and be supported by, the Rektor and will work in tandem with him on the development of the College’s finances, services and operations in relation to the College’s approved strategy. Ola will be a member of the Central Management Team with the members of the Support Staff reporting directly to him.
Ola brings to this role a wealth of experience – formerly as Director of Finance and Services at Haugland (with responsibility for RCN, RKHR and HIFUS) and he is currently Rådmann (2007 to present) in Fjaler. We firmly believe that with his experience, expertise, local knowledge and understanding of Norwegian legislation, Ola will play an important role in developing the College both internally and externally and will be at the heart of the design and implementation of an exciting future for RCN.
He will start in this role full-time in early April – and will be visiting campus between now and then for meetings and to contribute to the handover of this portfolio.
We very much look forward to welcoming Ola back to RCN.
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Det er med glede vi kan meddele at Ola Hovland er ansatt som “Chief Operating Officer” på UWC Røde Kors Nordisk.
I stillinga vil han rapportere til rektor og arbeide sammen med ham for å utvikle skolens økonomi, drift og støttefunksjoner i lys av skolens strategiske plan. Ola vil være medlem av sentralledelsen og vil ha mange ansatte i støttefunksjoner som rapporterer direkte til ham.
Ola kommer med mye relevant erfaring – som tidligere økonomidirektør på Haugland (med ansvar for RCN, RKHR og HIFUS), og han er i dag rådmann (fra 2007) i Fjaler. Det er vår bestemte oppfatning at med hans erfaring, ekspertise, lokalkunnskap og forståelse av norsk arbeidsliv, vil Ola spille en viktig rolle i å utvikle skolen både internt og eksternt. Han vil være i sentrum for den videre utviklingen for RCN.
Ola vil starte opp i den nye rollen 13. april – og vil besøke campus fram til da for møter og for å forberede overtakelsen av disse ansvarsområdene.
Vi ser fram til å ønske Ola tilbake til RCN.
Richard D A Lamont
Rektor
13th January 2016
Pawel Urbanski (’99 -’01)
Our alumni are a great resource for us. We are delighted to receive many visits from them and also stay in touch and hear how they, in various ways, live the mission. One of these is Pawel Urbanski, from Poland, who recently came as a guest speaker at the World Today event. His presentation was on what it is like to lose your sight and how it may seem like there is nothing you can do. Some of Pawel’s answers to this was to climb the Seven Summits, run a business and keep reinventing himself . The main theme of the presentation was how to maximize your potential,stay ambitious and at the same time understand and work within your limits and abilities. Students learned about Pawel’s quest of climbing the Seven Summits as a blind person, start new projects and do it with meaning and purpose. He gave the example of taking decisions when everything seems to be unknown, with examples from his first expedition to mount Aconcagua. He gave perspectives on how to deal with failure and to prevent wasting personal energy and motivation and then moved on to the value of accomplishment, telling the story of his quest of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Almost 15 years after graduating from RCN, Pawel stresses that 2 years in Norway gave him a background to be entrepreneurial and ambitious, but also to care with empathy for people around him. In the true spirit of Kurt Hahn. “There is more in you than you think.”
He can be found here.
For profiles and news of other students and alumni, click here.
Tom Gresvig
The cover of the Order of Service
On Friday 8th January, Tom Gresvig’s funeral was held at Uranienborg Kirke in Oslo and was followed by a reception at Bølgen & Moi. Her Majesty Queen Sonja sent a royal wreath in her capacity as patron of our College and other tributes have been delivered for Tom, a member of the founding team of UWC Red Cross Nordic, to both his family and the College.
Representatives from Haugland included: Inger and Arne Osland, Kari and Eirik Fismen, Anette Wolff, Daniel Toa-Kwapong, Stig Moltumyr, Kathini and Larry Lamont – alongside many Oslo-based representatives from our Board and UWC Norge and our partner organisations (including SOS Children’s Villages and the Norwegian Red Cross).
Jens Waltermann, Executive Director of UWC International wrote:
“UWC International and the entire UWC community mourn the death of Tom Gresvig – one of the great figures of the UWC movement. Tom was the founding father of UWC Red Cross Nordic and a long standing and substantial supporter of UWC internationally. Thousands of UWC RCN students bear witness to his legacy through their live changing experiences at UWC. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones and together with them the entire UWC family will honour Tom’s memory.”
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- With Queen Noor of Jordan and Queen Sonja of Norway at the opening of the College
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- Tom at his cottage on Jomfruland
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- Tom at the wedding of his son Håakon and Zhe (alumna of RCN)
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- Tom and Olav Hovland (architect of RCN)
Please click here for Larry’s address at the reception in honour of Tom on behalf of RCN and for the obituary in Aftenposten (7th January 2016) and the obituary notice written by UWC Norge and RCN.
If you could like to write Tom’s sons (Håakon and Knut) please use the following address:
President Harbitz Gate 21
Oslo 0259
The UWC and Norwegian flags will be flying at half-mast on the first day of term and we shall hold a minute’s silence at the first College Meeting of term for students and staff.
Larry
Rektor
9th January 2016