Proposed President on his visions
In front of over 120 people in Alfvensalen and over 200 people online, Anders Söderholm shared his thoughts and visions about becoming the next President of KTH.
The chair of the Nomination Committee, Pia Sandvik, began the hearing by giving a description of the recruitment process and members of the Nomination Committee talked in brief about why they nominated Anders Söderholm to be the new President.
Longing to return
The points raised during the presentation and hearing of Anders Söderholm included everything from the importance of good interaction between the line organisation and faculty, to how to build both identity and a quality culture at KTH as a leading university.
“I have worked in the university sphere almost all my life. As soon as I am away from it, I long to return.” This was the opening statement of Söderholm’s 15-minute address on how he wants to develop KTH and take it to the next level – if he becomes the next President.”
He described universities as being disobedient and unpredictable, among other things, and therefore hugely exciting for an academic citizen.
Against the backdrop of a full PowerPoint presentation entitled KTH – A leading international university of technology that creates knowledge and expertise for a sustainable future, Söderholm detailed his views and the importance of good recruitment, a good work environment, and close and clear interaction between the line organisation and the faculty system that should also include the students and their influence.
“A strong line organisation and strong faculty build success.”
Anders Söderholm also stressed the importance of effective operational support, and that collaboration should not be viewed as a third pillar alongside research and development, but rather all three should be seen as mirror images of each other.
Inverted hierarchy
He also talked about his views of the university and its inverted hierarchy, where those at the bottom have the expert knowledge, and the importance of maintaining the right perspective and proximity to the operation in order to make big decisions.
“Gender equality is a primary issue in achieving success and is not an end in itself, but rather a means in the journey towards success.”
The address was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Tina Karrbom Gustavsson, Professor, the School of Architecture and the Built Environment and a member of the Nomination Committee. The questions ranged from views on university engineers to recruitment processes, remote working and dialogue-based leadership.