"The Other Swedes"
Honoring Them and Remembering Them 
​~ The Groupings, including Swedes from Sweden

1998 - 2015
​"The Pearson Distinguished Professorship of Swedish Studies"
Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas

The Pearson Distinguished Professorship of Swedish Studies at Bethany College was endowed by a generous gift from Gerald “Bud” Pearson (1925-2008).  Mr. Pearson, a long-time friend of the College and former member of the Bethany Board of Directors, was president of The Pearson Art Foundation, Okoboji, Iowa.  Since its inception in 1998, the Pearson visiting scholar program has explored present day Swedish culture and ways in which it can illuminate and strengthen life in the United States—especially on the Bethany College Campus and in the surrounding community.

From 1999 to 2015 the following Committee Chairs led these organizational programs, lectures, and cultural events at Bethany College.  They were Gretchen Esping, Karen Humphrey, Carl Isaacson, Pastor Noni Strand, Gaylen Bunning, Melody Steed, and Sharon Bruce.
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Below are succinct background descriptions of those distinguished Swedish professors showing the years when they made their presentations on Swedish culture to Bethany College.
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Dr. Kjell Ove Nilsson, 1999

​Dr. Kjell Ove Nilsson was ordained by Bishop Anders Nygren in the Church of Sweden in 1958.  After earning his doctorate of Theology, he became Professor of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota.  From 1970-1974 he was Secretary of Studies with the Lutheran World Federation Swedish National Committee;  Editor-in-Chief for Vår Kyrka, the national church weekly in Sweden; Director of the Nordic Ecumenical Institute in Sigtuna/Uppsala; Dean of the Cathedral of Gothenburg, and Director of Theology at the Christian Council of Sweden in Stockholm.  He has participated in the Luther Research Congress, lectured at universities in Lund, Heidelberg, and Erfurt; has been actively involved in the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue in Sweden; has served on commissions of the former Ecumenical Council; and taught Luther’s Theology at the University of Gothenburg.  Nilsson has published numerous books and articles and maintains vigorous studies as a renowned Luther Scholar.
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Eskil Hemberg, 2000

​Eskil Hemberg, composer and conductor, was born in Stockholm where he studied at the Royal College of Music where he received a Music Teacher’s degree in 1961, a higher cantor’s degree in 1961, and a higher organist’s degree in 1964.  Together with Herbert Blomstedt he also conducted the orchestra at the Royal College of Music during this period.  Hemberg became an executive producer for the Swedish Radio’s choir from 1963-1970 when he became the planning manager and director of foreign relations at the National Institute of Concerts.  From 1984-1987 he was the general manager and artistic director of the Gothenburg Opera and also served as the director of the Stockholm University Chorus.  In 1968-78 Hemberg wrote Messa d’oggi, a choral piece with texts by Quasimodo and Dag Hammarskjöld.  He also wrote a choreographic choral suite, “An Opera in Four Acts”, based on poems by Robert Graves. Hemberg served as general manager and artistic director of the Royal Swedish Opera from 1987-1996.  During this time he presented many notable performances including Ingmar Bergman directing The Bacchae by Daniel Börtz, in 1991.  Hemberg was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, chair of the Swedish Society of Composers, President of the International Music Council of UNESCO, and President of the International Federation for Choral Music until his death in 2004.
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Jimmy Sjöblom, 2001

​Jimmy Sjöblom, environmental educator, works with Ungdomens Miljöriksdage, or Swedish Youth Parliament for the Environment, a project founded by the research foundation of Det Naturliga Steget (the Natural Step Sweden).  The purpose of the project is to be a resource for students aged 14-19 on educational activities regarding sustainable development.  The project is entirely non-profit and has no political or religious ties.  All activities are science-based and are executed on a non-conflict/non-confrontational basis.  The goal is to bring sustainability to the table among youth, avoiding the conflicts of the traditional environmentalist movement and instead generating creativity from a common platform of knowledge systems and educational theory and practice.  The program reaches more than 30,000 students throughout the country.  Participation is voluntary and is acclaimed through an active note of appointment from the individual schools.
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Krister and Brita Stendahl, 2002

Krister Stendahl was Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Divinity Emritus at Harvard University and Bishop Emeritus of Stockholm.  A native of Stockholm, he was educated at Uppsala University and after studies in Cambridge and Paris, was ordained in 1944, served as parish pastor, and was chaplain to the University of Uppsala.  Following his Th.D. he was appointed to Harvard Divinity School and remained there for thirty years, eleven of them as Dean.  In 1984 he left Harvard to become bishop in his native Sweden.  Following his retirement in 1988, he moved back to Cambridge and served as chaplain to Harvard Divinity School and was the Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Distinguished Professor of Christian Studies at Brandeis University.  His writings center in Biblical studies from which perspective he has addressed various issues of theology, history, the arts of ministry, and contemporary problems in church and society.  Since his doctoral thesis in 1954, he has pondered and sought to redefine the relation between Jews and Christians.  From 1975-1985 he chaired the work on The Church and the Jewish People in the World Council of Churches.  Among his works are The School of St. Matthew (1954, 1991), The Bible and the Role of Women (1966), Holy Week (1974), and Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (1976).

Brita Stendahl, a native of Stockholm, was a Buntiing Fellow at Radcliffe College and Associated Fellow at the Henry A. Murray Center at Radcliffe.  She taught Scandinavian Literature and History in the Harvard Freshman Program and in the Radcliffe Seminar Program.  With Krister Stendahl, she taught on the subject of Humor and Religion at Radcliffe, and together they received the first Myron B. Bloy Award from the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life.  She has presented lectures on Selma Lagerlöf, Fredrika Bremer, and Emanuel Swedenborg.  She has written articles for major newspapers both in the United States and Sweden, is a regular reviewer for World Literature Today, and in Harvard Divinity Bulletin, she reviewed Kierkegaard’s prayers, “The Primary Language of Prayer,” and John Bailey’s Elegy for Iris.  Her books include Sören Kierkagaard (Twayne, 1976), Sabbatical Reflections (Fortress Press, 1978), Att Se och Betrakta, together with Berta Hansson and Krister Stendahl (Verbum, 1988) and The Education of a Self-Made Woman: Fredrika Bremer 1801-1865 (Mellon Press, 1994). 

Ylva Eggehorn, 2003

Ylva Eggehorn, novelist, poet, columnist, and hymn writer, received the prestigious Evert Taube award for her work with poetry and music in 2001.  Eggehorn has also received awards named after premier Swedish poets:  the Gustaf Fröding award, the Karin Boye award, the Karl Vennberg award, and Johan Olaf Willin award.  She has been honored by the Swedish Academy for the “humanitarian qualities” of her writing.  In addition to recent publication of two novels and several hymn texts published in a recent edition of Salmeboken, Eggehorn has written texts for musical compositions by the famous jazz musician Lars Gullin and collaborated with ABBA’s Benny Andersson for texts to his film music for Sånger från andra våningen. She is the writer of the very popular hymn Innan Gryningen, commissioned for the national millennium celebrations 2000.
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Arne Ruth, 2004 

Arne Ruth is one of Sweden’s foremost and most respected journalists and publicists.  He was editor-in-chief and head of the cultural department at Sweden’s largest newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, 1982-1998, when he resigned in protest at the attempt of the newspaper’s owner to also take over Svenska Dagbladet.  Ruth wrote extensively about the legacy of Nazism and the myths about Sweden, and led the Swedish Free Salman Rushdie Committee. Previously, Ruth was active at Sveriges Radio and was head of culture at Expressen, 1977-1982. He has been chairman of the Swedish PEN club and leader of the association Group lawsuit against Skandia.  Ruth, born 1944 in Gollnow, Germany, came to Sweden as a one-year-old with his mother Aina, her twin sister and an older brother in the humanitarian evacuation overseen by Folke Bernadotte.  Ruth grew up in Bengtfors and in Gothenburg.  He has been a visiting professor in Sweden, Norway, and the U.S. and has won several European prizes for his journalistic work.
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Beate Sydhoff, 2005

Beate Sydhoff recently retired as Secretary General of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.  Sydhoff served as the Program Director and organizer in preparation for Stockholm as the Cultural Capitol of Europe in 1998.  She has also chaired the Swedish International Council of Museums, the Cultural Delegation of the Swedish UNESCO Commission.  She has been Director of the Stockholm Cultural Center; Cultural Counselor at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C.; Director of the Art Department of the Stockholm Cultural Administration, including the Stockholm Cultural Center and the Liljevalch Art Gallery; art critic for Svenska Dagbladet; lecturer at Stockholm University and the Stockholm School of Crafts and Design; curator of Swedish arts and crafts abroad; curator at the National Museum in Stockholm, and fulbright and Swedish-American Foundation scholar to the USA.  Sydhoff is a regular contributor to many Swedish and European magazines on contemporary art, crafts, and design.  She is the author of several books on Scandinavian and Swedish art, including Konsten I Norden:  Vår egen tid (Nordic Contemporary Art), 1973; Konstverkens Lif I Offentlig Miljö (Art in Public Environments) with Sven Sandström and Malis Stensman), 1982; Lisbet Hasselberg-Olsson, 1977; and Sveriges Konst 1900-talet del 2, 1945-1975 (History of Swedish Art 1945-1975), 2000.
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Håkan Hagegård, 2006

Håkan Hagegård, the world-renowned Swedish baritone brings to Bethany College and the 2006 Messiah Festival four of Sweden’s finest young opera stars to sing leading roles in Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Passion According to Saint Matthew.  Additionally, the quartet, and Mr. Hagegård will present community recitals during Messiah Festival week.  Håkan Hagegård made his debut at the Royal Opera, Stockholm in 1968 as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (the Magic Flute). In the same role , he later won universal acclaim in Ingmar Bergman’s television film of the opera.  In 1970 he made his first appearance at the Drottningholm Theatre as Pacuvio in Rossini’s Pietra del Paragone. His American debut took place in 1980 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in the role of Malatesta in Don Pasquale. He has performed in opera houses and as a recitalist around the world.   Born in Karlstad, Sweden in 1945, Hagegård studied first at the conservatory of his home town, then at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, where he was a voice student of famous Swedish soprano Helga Görlin. Additional studies were with Tito Gobbi in Rome, Gerald Moore in London, and Erik Werba in Vienna. He was appointed court vocalist to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and has won several international awards.  
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Hans Ucko, 2007​

Hans Ucko is a pastor of the Church of Sweden and a member of the World Council of Churches.  He has been extensively involved in interfaith dialog, particularly between Christians and Jews.  He has written several books on the subject including Common roots, new origins: learning about Christian faith from dialogue with the Jews; A New Millennium: From Dialogue to Reconciliation: Christian and Jewish Reflections; Worlds of memory and wisdom: encounters of Jews and African Christians.  From 1981 to 1989 Ucko was the Church of Sweden’s Executive Secretary for Jewish-Christian Relations, inter-religious dialogue and East Asian Relations.  He was appointed Program Secretary in the World Council of Churches Office on Interreligious Relations and Dialogue and is the editor of the publication Current Dialogue. Ucko also served as President of Religions for Peace Europe. 
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Jimmy Sjoblom, 2008
See above, 2001
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Dr. Peter Savolainen, 2009

Dr. Peter Savolainen, forensic scientist, is Assistant Professor at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His graduate and post-graduate studies, and PhD earned at the Royal Institute of Technology where his thesis was based on the development of techniques for analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from minute DNA samples and their use in forensic and population genetic studies, especially for studies of dogs and wolves.  After his post-doc at the Max-Planck Institute in Leipzig, working on ancient human remains, he returned to KTG.  Based on techniques and data collections developed during his postgraduate period he has continued his population genetic and evolutionary studies of the domestic dog and the development of forensic methods, and has served as forensic expert scientist for the Swedish police.  His main scientific interest continues to be population genetic studies of the origin and history of the domestic dog.  Based on a unique sample collection from more than a thousand dogs from around the world, he collaborates with research groups in China and Australia, detailed information has been obtained about the origin of the domestic dog and the Australian dingo. 
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Per Harling, 2010

​Per Harling is a prolific song and hymn writer, composer of liturgical music and hymn tunes, a pastoral musician, and a congregational song leader. His songs and hymns are found in numerous hymnals and songbooks around the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Taiwan, and Russia.  Harling wrote the biography of Sweden’s beloved 19th century hymn writer Lina Sandell Berg, Ett ögonblick i sänder—Lina Sandell och Hannes Sänger, and is the editor of Swedish Hymns and the Stories Behind Them. As pastor of the Church of Sweden he has served parishes in Forsö, Rättvik, and Björklinge-Skuttunge-Vikstra just north of Uppsala. Harling has worked as a consultant at the Swedish Church’s National Office in Stockholm with principal responsibility for issues affecting evangelism and later as an administrator at the Swedish Church's Office with special emphasis on the church worship development.  In addition, he is working with music, authoring and presenting operations on a free-lance basis.  He has led diverse involvement in several international forums including the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and the United Methodist Church in its Global Praise Project dealing with the regional and local promotion of the worldwide church music and song.
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​Jordi Arkö, 2011

​Jordi Arko is an artist, printmaker, lecturer and art consultant.  Born in Stockholm, he studied art history, archaeology, and ethnology at the University of Stockholm College of Design and Fine Arts, and has à Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in free art and graphic design from the Royal Institute of Arts. Arko has exhibited around the world, including across Sweden in the U.S., England, Denmark, Ireland, France, Germany, and Japan.  His well-known artworks include etchings entitled Samtal med Goya (Conversation with Goya), a 295-foot long tapestry depicting Frans G. Bengtsson’s Viking novel Rode Orm, The Long Ships, and over 100 lithographs illustrating the same novel.  Arko has also designed Swedish postage stamps and Nobel Prize diplomas, and he recently designed a new antependium for the Mora Church in Dalarna.
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Barbro Klein, 2012

​Dr. Barbro Klein is Director emerita of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, and is one of its Permanent Fellows. She is also Professor of Ethnology at Stockholm University.  She received her Ph.D. In Folklore Studies and Anthropology at Indiana University in 1970 and has taught at numerous institutions including the University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Bergen in Norway.  Klein has written extensively on oral narration, rituals, museum displays, and other forms of expressive culture in complex multi-ethnic settings, primarily in the United States and Northern Europe.  Her work and publications involve folkloristics, ethnology, anthropology, and museology.  She is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society and Member of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy; in 2006 this academy awarded her a major prize from the Joran Schlagern Fund.  In 2000 she received the Festschrift Folklore, Heritage Politics, and Ethnic Diversity (edited by Pertti Anttonen).
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Pia Sundhage, 2013

​Pia Sundhage is the two-time gold medal-winning women’s soccer coach and FIFA Coach of the Year.  Sundhage, born in Ulricehamn, coached the U.S. women’s soccer team from 2008-2012, winning Olympic gold medals in Beijing and London, and taking second place in the 2011 FIFA World Cup.  Named by FIFA as 2012 Coach of the Year, Sundhage’s record includes coaching the U.S. team to 88-6-1 and winning eleven tournaments, including three Algarve Cups.  She earned the sixth spot in the 2000 FIFA Women’s Player of the Century list.  Her debut with the Swedish team occurred with the Swedish team in 1975 when she was 15.  She led the team to win the first European Women’s Championship in 1984, when she scored the winning penalty kick, and to the bronze medal at the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, where she scored four goals.  She retired after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where she played every minute of the three matches.  She currently coaches Sweden’s national team.
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Jan Arnald, 2014

Jan Arnald, Swedish novelist and literary critic, is the acclaimed author of a series of crime novels under the pen name Arne Dahl. His books are about a fictional group of Swedish crime investigators called “A Gruppen” or “the Intercrime Group” in English translation.  The “Intercrime” series of suspense novels have sold more than 2.5 million copies, and have been translated into 25 languages.  The first five books were made into 180-minute films, screened as two 90-minute episodes per story.  The first, Misterioso, was screened on SVT1 in 2011 and 2012. BBC Four screened the series in 2013.  Arnald was born in 1963 in Sollentuna.  He holds a PhD in literature and previously taught literature at the University of Stockholm. He is the recipient of several distinguished literary awards including the Palle Rosenkranz prize, the Radio Bremen Crime Fiction Award, and the Best Swedish Crime Novel (Bästa Svenska Kriminalroman) for his novel Viskleken.
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Anders Jalkeus, 2015

​Anders Jalkeus, born and raised south of Stockholm in Tyreso, is one of the founders in 1984 of the modern a capella quintent The Real Group, singing a unique musical expression in a field between jazz, pop, and Northern European choral music. While he was quite young, Jalkeus was introduced to folk music by his parents that set a course for his great interest in music.  He started to learn violin and piano at the age of 6, and as a ten-year-old was accepted to the Adolf Fredrick’s School of Music with its strong focus on choir singing.  He continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music for nine years where he and four fellow-students first formed the Real Group.  The five members continued further studies together in a specially designed post graduate course.  Jalkeus has a masters degree in classical solo singing, a masters degree in Music Education, with additional degrees in organ and choral conducting. He studied choral conducting with professor Eric Ericsson and has been a singer with Eric Ericson’s Chamber Choir as well as the Swedish Radio Choir. Beginning in 1989-2015 he performed with The Real Group in more than 40 countries, and they have recorded more than 16 albums. Jalkeus is also a frequent adjudicator in competitions around the world.

SWEDES is most grateful to Ms. Karen A. Humphrey ​to have a record of these Swedish and American committed educators on these cross-cultural academic gatherings.  She was the former Bethany College Vice President of Institutional Advancement and was the coordinator of ​"The Pearson Distinguished Professorship of Swedish Studies" from 1998 to 2006. 

To Ms. Humphrey and all those that participated in these Swedish cultural endeavors, they certainly added to the academic enrichment of Bethany College's Swedish heritage.  As well, so did the generous benefactor, Gerald “Bud” Pearson, who attributed much of his life's success to his Swedish heritage.  Regarded as "a true American success story," his friendship with Bethany College not only established this 1998 Pearson Professorship, also, since 2014 the College has been worshiping in the fine Bud Pearson Swedish Chapel.​

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​​"Let Us Celebrate Them"
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present

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All color photography throughout Swedes:  The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated, or obviously concluded it is not.
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