NEWS After eight and a half years, Umeå University's Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson is now saying goodbye. The eighth vice-chancellor in the order is moving on to become vice-chancellor of Stockholm University, and will have his last day of work at Umeå University on 31 January 2025. "Umeå University won't leave my heart, that's the way it is," said Hans Adolfsson at the farewell ceremony in Brashörnan in Universum.
Moderator Annakarin Nyberg interviewed the Vice-Chancellor on stage between speakers.
Image Mattias Pettersson
The three student unions - Umeå Medicinska Studentkår, Umeå naturvertar- och teknologkår and Umeå studentkår - had their presidents on site who together gave speeches.
Image Mattias Pettersson
The three student unions concluded their speeches by joining in wishing the Vice-Chancellor ‘good luck on your journey from the centre of the universe to the periphery’.
Image Mattias Pettersson
Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson's red sneakers have become for many both a signature and a symbol of the Vice-Chancellor's open-hearted and much appreciated down-to-earth leadership style, and he was of course wearing them during the farewell ceremony.
Image Mattias PetterssonBrashörnan was filled with guests who, while enjoying canapés and bubbly, were treated to speeches and films summarising Hans Adolfsson's time at Umeå University. Moderator Annakarin Nyberg, Associate professor at Department of Informatics, interviewed the Vice-Chancellor on stage and the first to speak was Pro-Vice-Chancellor Katrine Riklund.
"You have spent about twenty-one per cent of your active professional life at our university, and if you count all the hours you've worked, that's thirty to forty per cent! And I think you will now be an excellent UMU ambassador, because the story of Umeå University needs to be told far and wide, and Umeå University never leaves your heart, your brain or your red shoes,’ said Pro-Vice-Chancellor Katrine Riklund.
It is of course difficult to summarise eight and a half years, but University Director Hans Wiklund made a good attempt in his speech and presented a summary of figures and important points.
"The number of students has increased from 31,000 to 40,500, or by 30 per cent, or converted to three students per day during your term of 3,136 days. Umeå University received the highest rating for the quality assurance of education when UKÄ conducted its institutional review in 2021. The scientific production has increased. Umeå University's share of the research councils' awarded grants has increased in 2024, as have the applications and awarded grants from the European Research Council (ERC). A Nobel Prize. The first, but not the last," summarised Hans Wiklund and continued:
"The university has climbed up the rankings, most clearly in the area of sustainability, where we have moved from 600th to 200th place out of 1,800 higher education institutions globally. The number of employees has increased from just over 4,200 to just under 4,600 and annual revenue has increased from just over SEK 4 billion to just over SEK 5 billion."
Hans Wiklund concluded by pointing out that there was also a record result in the 2024 employee survey.
"The highest ever at Umeå University and the highest of all the universities that have conducted the corresponding survey."
I remember standing at the whiteboard trying to write down all the actions we would have to take on the morning of 17 March 2020, when we were told to close down the university.
At the farewell, the moderator Annakarin Nyberg asked about the core values work, which was intensified after some personnel cases and which has since become so successful that other universities have started asking about it. The moderator and vice-chancellor also talked about what it was like to govern a large university during such a unique event as a global pandemic.
"I remember standing at the whiteboard trying to write down all the actions we would have to take on the morning of 17 March 2020, when we were told to close down the university. You sharpen up even more in such situations and I saw that many around me really grew in their leadership and took an incredible amount of responsibility and made sure that things worked," said Hans Adolfsson.
The pandemic also featured in Governor of Västerbotten County Helene Hellmark Knutsson's speech, which was pre-recorded because she was elsewhere. The governor thanked the vice-chancellor for helping to win a Nobel Prize for the university during her first year as governor, and ended her speech with a nod to the vice-chancellor's research area:
"You're also a chemist, and I think that has perhaps also been valuable in creating this fantastic chemistry between you, Umeå University and the whole of Västerbotten County. I think it is a chemistry that will last for a long time to come. Many thanks for your work!" concluded Helene Hellmark Knutsson.
When you have shown all the progress you have made at Umeå University, you have not stood at the front, you have let the employees stand at the front, but we have seen those red shoes sticking out behind the employees
A film compiled by Media producer Alekzandra Granath from the Communications Office was also screened, showing how Hans Adolfsson has developed in front of the camera and become more and more playful during his years at the university.
Anna Ekström, chair of the Umeå University Board, also gave a speech, praising the Vice-Chancellor for all the important work he has done for Umeå University over the years, not least during Russia's invasion of Ukraine and as Chair of the The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF).
"When you have shown all the progress you have made at Umeå University, you have not stood at the front, you have let the employees stand at the front, but we have seen those red shoes sticking out behind the employees," said Anna Ekström.
The three student unions - Umeå Medicinska Studentkår (UMS), Umeå Naturvertar- och teknologkår (NTK) and Umeå studentkår (US) - had their presidents in attendance, who together gave speeches and concluded by wishing the vice-chancellor ‘good luck on your journey from the centre of the universe to the periphery’.
The official farewell ended with Studentkören singing ‘Ein König ist det Wein’ with their own lyrics: ‘So Hasse, yes Hasse, you have been our boss. A thank you to you from us’. At the end of the stage programme, Hans Adolfsson sang Ebba Grön's version of the song ‘Staten och Kapitalet’ with Renhornen. The planning unit also offered its own version of the song ‘Jag mötte Lassie’, with lines like ‘Vi mötte Hasse, vi mötte Hasse och vi såg att tillit fanns. Med hans ledarstil så gick ju jobbet som en dans. Vi mötte Hasse, vi mötte Hasse, kände att det fanns kemi. Med Hans som rektor tändes hopp i vår akademi.’
This was followed by an open mingle where staff and other guests could have a chat with Hans Adolfsson, who was of course wearing the well-known red shoes for the day. For many, the red trainers have become both a signature and a symbol of the vice-chancellor's open-hearted and highly appreciated down-to-earth leadership style.
"The spirit of UMU and a pleasant and very successful comprehensive university is what I will tell you when someone asks me what it is like at Umeå University. And Umeå University does not leave my heart, that's how it is," said a happy and moved Hans Adolfsson.