Rolf Skår

Rolf Skår was one of three cofounders of the Norwegian computer company Norsk Data. During his many years with Norsk Data, he worked in various phases of the business including software development and sales and marketing. His final position with the company was as president and CEO. As a renowned businessman in Norway, after Norsk Data he has served in positions of leadership and innovation in government agencies and business consulting and has represented Norway in the European Space Agency.¹

David Walden: Please tell me a bit about your youth.

Rolf Skår: I was born at Skår, Karmøy, on the west coast of Norway. My father was a fisherman in the winter and a small farmer for the rest of the year. When I reached the age of 12, he bought his first car and a year later a tractor. I come from a large family with 71 first cousins; most of the male cousins either became fisherman or ship captains. My youth was dominated by “child labor,” working with my father on the small farm and being paid to drive the tractor and other work for other nearby farmers. I was financially independent of my parents by age 14, earning my spending money while at home and paying all expenses for attending university.

Walden: You went to college at NTH (Norwegian Institution of Technology²). Had you already developed an interest in technology and science as a youth?

Skår: Technical interest came early as I repaired my father’s farm equipment and cars. In the summer I was 13 years, we had a visit from one of my first cousins who was an engineer, and I became convinced that I should study engineering at the NTH in Trondheim.

Walden: Please tell me about your college years.

Skår: Before being allowed to study engineering at NTH, it was mandatory to have one year of work in an industrial environment. I spent this year at a metal smelter in Sauda, where I worked in the repair shop. At NTH I was privileged to study control engineering and cybernetics under Professor Jens Balchen. I took all the computer lectures given at NTH and started to write programs in Algol for a Danish computer called GIER.

My later career was significantly shaped by the three summers jobs I had during my NTH years. In 1963 I worked in Switzerland for an electrical products manufacturer and came to know and love the country. The next summer I had a “dream summer job” at CERN in Geneva, working with digital technology. There I met Lars Monrad-Krohn who invited me to come to the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (NDRE)³ and take my diploma there. I also arranged for a girl I had met in Trondheim, Signy, to get a job near Geneva. We met often in Geneva and this resulted in a happy marriage, now in its 47th year. My next [End Page 72 ] summer job was even better, working for NATO Saclant in La Spezia, Italy. At NATO Saclant, I did software development for computing how sound ways would travel depending on salinity, temperature, and currents, which is relevant for hiding and detecting submarines.

. Background of Rolf Skår

Born: 13 May 1941, Skår, Karmøy.

Education: NTH (Norges Tekniske Høgskole), MS (cybernetics), 1966.

Professional Experience: Electric Furnace Products Company, trainee, 1960–1961; Sprecher & Schuh AG, student summer job, 1963; CERN, student summer job, 1964; NATO Saclant Anti-Submarine Warfare Research Center, student summer job, 1965; Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (NDRE), compulsory military service, 1965–1966; NDRE, research engineer, 1966–1967; Norsk Data, 1967–1989; Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (NTNF), director general, 1990–1993; Norconsult International, president, 1993–1998; Norwegian Space Center, director general and head of Norwegian delegation to European Space Agency (ESA), 1998–2006; European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), permanent resident of founders, 2006–2008; ESA, industrial ombudsman, 2010–2012; Norwegian Space Center, senior adviser, 2008–2009 and 2013–present.

Honors and Awards: Leader of the Year (Årets leder), Norway, 1984; Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, member, 1984; Norwegian Academy of Technical...