Guri Hjeltnes

As of May 2004 I have been a Professor of Journalism, at the Department of Communications, Culture and Languages, at the Norwegian Business School BI. In the years 1.1.2008-1.8.2010 I was a provost (prorektor) at BI, being responsible amongst other the quality of the studies and BI's accreditation processes. After a year of sabbatical, I am now back as a professor, as of August 1, 2011.

In the years 1999-2004 I was a research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo. During that period I was a Visiting Scholar at the United Nations Studies at Yale, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, July 2000-July 2002, working on a major biography of Trygve Lie (1896-1968), the first UN Secretary-General (1946-1953). In the spring of 2004 I was editor, op-ed pages, Verdens Gang, Norway's largest circulation daily, Oslo, before starting at BI.

In my professional life I have pursued two carriers, first a journalistic one, then an academic. My professional experience as journalist/columnist: In the early 1970ies I was a reporter in Miljømagasinet (a magazine specializing on ecology and the environment); freelancing in Universitas (The Oslo university student paper) and Østlendingen (an Agrarian Party Newspaper in the Elverum area), from 1979-85 staff reporter in Arbeiderbladet, then the Oslo social democratic daily. For some years I was also working freelance in NRK-TV (The Norwegian Broadcast Service, non-commercial, public television). From 1985 on I was back on the academic track, however still writing for a broader public, being a book reviewer in Verdens Gang since 1991 and between June 2004 and November 2009 also a weekly columnist in Verdens Gang, op-ed page. For the time being I am also reviewing books in Dagens Næringsliv and write a column in Dagsavisen.

Research areas
My research interests have developed over the years and include modern history: WWII, social history, press history, media history, recently switching also to multimedia challenges, media convergence and the use of social media.

Over the years I have co-edited books on feminism, Norwegian fascism, the German attack on Norway on April 9, 1940, on everyday life during the occupation, pictures from private albums, on the Oslo liberal daily Dagbladet, and been co-editor of Norsk krigsleksikon (1995), an encyclopaedia on the Nazi occupation of Norway 1940-45. In 1984 I co-authored a book on a Norwegian family extradited to Germany during WWII, Hver fredag foran porten ("Every Friday in front of the gate"), dealing with the efforts of the Hjort family to aid Norwegian prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps Sachsenhausen and the rescue operations following the Nazi defeat. In 1986 I published the book Hverdagsliv ("Every day life in Norway during the occupation"), volume 5 in a large series on Norway during WWII. My M.phil. Thesis was published in the book called Avisoppgjøret ("The Reckoning: The Purges of the Press in Post-war Norway") 1990. In 2010 the major historical work, "Norsk presses historie 1660-2010" was published, I was editor of volume III, "Imperiet vakler".

In the years 1988-95 I was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and the Norwegian Research Council (NAVF) to write two volumes on "Handelsflåten i krig", "The Norwegian Merchant Marine during the War", Sjømann - lang vakt, (Sailor - extended duty) vol. 3, published 1995, and Krigsseiler - krig, hjemkomst, oppgjør, (War-time sailor - war, return, confrontation with the past) vol. 4, published 1997. These two books were part of my thesis becoming a Dr. philos in History, 2002, at the University of Oslo.
From August 1995 until October 1998 I was Project Co-ordinator for the University of Oslo History project planning a complete history of the University of Oslo on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo.

At the moment I am working on a scientific biography on Trygve Lie (1896-1968), the first Secretary-General of the United Nation. Also I am conducting a smaller research project on multimedia leadership and media convergence, preparing the new Master of Management-program called "Flermedial ledelse", strting at BI in the fall of 2007.