The rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 is the university's highest officer, elected among the faculty by all the members of the university community. Until 1989, only professors could be elected rector.

The office of rector was instituted by law in 1905, and made effective in 1907. From 1845 to 1907, the Collegium academicum, the highest body of the university, elected a chairman among its members to serve for one year. From 1814 to 1845, the university had a Chancellor, which was only a seremonial office held by the Lord Lieutenant (stattholder), and a Pro-Chancellor, who was the deputy of the Chancellor and ex officio chairman of the Collegium academicum.

Chancellors, 1814-1844

Term	Chancellor
1814-1816	Count Hans Henric von Essen Hans Henric von Essen Count Hans Henrik von Essen was a Swedish officer, courtier and statesman.Hans Henrik von Essen was born at Kavlås Castle in Tidaholm Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. He was educated at Uppsala University. He entered the army becoming a cornet at age 18. He accompanied Gustav III in...
1816-1818	Count Carl Mörner
1818-1824	Count Johan August Sandels Johan August Sandels Count Johan August Sandels was a Swedish soldier and politician, being appointed Governor of Norway 1818 and Field Marshal in 1824...
1818-1824	Crown Prince Oscar

Pro-Chancellors, 1814-1845

Term	Pro-Chancellor
1814-1822	Bishop Frederik Julius Bech
1823-1828	Professor Niels Treschow Niels Treschow Niels Treschow , was a Norwegian philosopher and politician, central to the creation of the University of Oslo. He also served as Minister of Education and Church Affairs 1814-1816, 1817-1819, 1820-1822 and 1823-1825, and member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1816-1817, 1819-1820,...
1828-1840	Count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg
1840-1845	Bishop Christian Sørenssen Christian Sørenssen Christian Sørenssen was a Norwegian theologian, politician and bishop.Sørenssen received his cand.theol. in 1785. He worked as a teacher in his home town of Christiansand and in Strømsø in Drammen, before in 1797 he became a priest in Risør. In 1804, he was the most important priest in Christiansand...

Chairmen of the Collegium academicum, 1845-1907

Term	Chairman of the Collegium academicum	Field of study
?	?	?

Rectors, 1907-

Term	Rector	Field of study
1907-1911	Waldemar Christofer Brøgger	Mineralogy Mineralogy Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...  and geology Geology Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
1912-1918	Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne was a Norwegian jurist, member of an old noble family.-Personal life:...	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions... , economics Economics Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"... , and statistics Statistics Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
1919-1921	Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a... 1	Zoology Zoology Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...  and oceanography Oceanography Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
1919-1921	Axel Holst Axel Holst Axel Holst was a Norwegian professor of hygiene and bacteriology at the University of Oslo, known for his contributions to beriberi and scurvy....	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
1921-1927	Fredrik Stang Fredrik Stang Fredrik Stang was the Norwegian Minister of Justice 1912–1913. He was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee 1922–1940.-Personal life:He was born in Kristiania as the son of Emil Stang and his wife Adelaide Pauline Berg...	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
1928-1936	Sem Sæland Sem Sæland Sem Sæland was a Norwegian physicist. He was a physics Professor at the Norwegian Institute of Technology from 1910, and at the University of Oslo from 1922. He served as rector of the University of Oslo from 1927 to 1936. Sæland was a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St...	Physics Physics Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
1937-1941	Didrik Arup Seip Didrik Arup Seip Didrik Arup Seip was Professor of North Germanic languages at the University of Oslo.He earned his doctorate in 1916 and was appointed professor the same year, retiring in 1954. Together with Herman Jæger, he edited and published the collected works of Henrik Wergeland in 23 volumes...	North Germanic languages North Germanic languages The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages, the languages of Scandinavians, make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...
1941-1945	Adolf Hoel Adolf Hoel Adolf Hoel was a Norwegian geologist and polar researcher. He was the leading Norwegian researcher at Svalbard in the early 20th century, and in 1928 founded Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser, which became the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1948. The mineral hoelite is named in his honour... 2	Geology Geology Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
1946-1951	Otto Lous Mohr Otto Lous Mohr Otto Lous Mohr was a Norwegian medical doctor.He was a professor of anatomy at the University of Oslo from 1919 to 1952, and served as rector from 1946 to 1952....	Medicine Medicine Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
1952-1957	Frede Castberg Frede Castberg Frede Castberg was a Norwegian jurist. The son of Johan Castberg, he served as professor and rector at the University of Oslo as well as president of the Hague Academy of International Law.-Personal life:...	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
1958-1963	Johan Tidemann Ruud	Marine biology Marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
1964-1969	Hans Vogt Hans Vogt Hans Vogt was a Norwegian linguist specialized in the Caucasian languages, especially Georgian. He also did significant early work on the Kalispel language....	Romance languages Romance languages The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
1970-1972	Johs. Andenæs	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
1973-1976	Otto Bastiansen	Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
1977-1984	Bjarne A. Waaler	Medicine Medicine Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
1985-1992	Inge Lønning Inge Lønning Inge Lønning is a Norwegian theologian, educator, and politician, active in the Conservative Party of Norway.Lønning was born in Fana, Bergen, Norway. He earned his cand. theol. from the University of Oslo in 1962 and finished the practical-theological seminar in 1963...	Theology Theology Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
1993-1998	Lucy Smith Lucy Smith Lucy Caroline Smith is a Norwegian lawyer and emeritus professor of law at the University of Oslo, where she acted as rector from 1993 to 1998....	Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
1999-2001	Kaare R. Norum	Nutritional science
2002-2005	Arild Underdal	Political science Political science Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
2006-2009	Geir Ellingsrud Geir Ellingsrud Geir Ellingsrud is professor of mathematics at the University of Oslo, where he specialises in algebra and algebraic geometry....	Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
2009-2012	Ole Petter Ottersen Ole Petter Ottersen Ole Petter Ottersen is a Norwegian professor of medicine.His field is neuroscience, and he is a former director of the Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Oslo. In 2009 he entered the race to become rector of the University of Oslo. The rector is elected by students...	Medicine Medicine Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

1: Fridtjof Nansen was elected rector of the university for the term 1919-1921, but never assumed office.

2: Following the arrest of Didrik Arup Seip during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

, the occupying powers made Adolf Hoel rector of the university. This was not officially recognized by the exiled Nygaardsvold government.