Tove Strand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Social Affairs | |
| In office 9 May 1986 – 16 October 1989 | |
| Prime Minister | Gro Harlem Brundtland |
| Preceded by | Leif Arne Heløe |
| Succeeded by | Wenche Frogn Sellæg |
| Minister of Government Administration and Labour | |
| In office 3 November 1990 – 4 September 1992 | |
| Prime Minister | Gro Harlem Brundtland |
| Preceded by | Kristin Clemet |
| Succeeded by | Oddny Aleksandersen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tove Astri Strand (1946-09-29)29 September 1946 (age 78) Kongsvinger,Norway |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Spouse | Rune Gerhardsen |
| Children | Mina Marte |
| Parent(s) | Norvald Strand (father) Svanhild Lundhaug (mother) |
Tove Astri Strand (born 29 September 1946) is a Norwegian director and former politician for theLabour Party. She was active in politics between 1963 and 1992, including two periods as agovernment minister. She headed theNorwegian Agency for Development Cooperation from 1997 to 2005, and since 2005 she is the director ofUllevål University Hospital.
Born inKongsvinger as the daughter of local bureaucrat Norvald Strand and nurse Svanhild Lundhaug, she chaired the local chapter of theWorkers' Youth League from 1963 to 1966. She then enrolled as a student at theUniversity of Oslo,[1] having chosen to study economics over medicine,[2] She graduated in 1971 with thecand.oecon. degree,[1] and cited Leif Johansen and Nobel Prize laureateTrygve Haavelmo as inspirational economists.[2] While living inOslo she was a member of the board of local Workers' Youth League chapter from 1968 to 1970.[1]
Tove Strand was formerly married toRune Gerhardsen, a fellow Labour Party politician and son of formerPrime MinisterEinar Gerhardsen whom she met in university.[2] Due to the marriage she was namedTove Strand Gerhardsen during this period. Before the couple split in 1996, they had two daughters,Marte[2] andMina Gerhardsen. Both daughters joined the Labour Party too, and Mina Gerhardsen, as political advisor for Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg, has been considered particularly influential in Norwegian society.[3] Tove Strand later marriedTor Saglie, the director of theNorwegian Labour and Welfare Service.[4]
After graduation, she worked five years as a clerk in theMinistry of Finance. At the same time, she was elected to serve in the city council of Oslo for the term 1971–1975. When thecabinet Nordli assumed office in January 1976, she was appointed personal secretary (today known as political advisor) in theMinistry of Trade and Shipping. She left in January 1979, to concentrate on her career as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance, where she was promoted to assistant secretary (byråsjef). However, after only one year she returned to the political scene as a personal secretary, this time in the Ministry of Finance. In February 1981, when thefirst cabinet Brundtland, Strand was again promoted, this time tostate secretary. The first cabinet Brundtland losing office to thecabinet Willoch following the1981 election, Strand returned to work one more year as assistant secretary in the Ministry of Finance.[1]
In 1982 she left the executive branch of government to work as a head of a department atRikshospitalet. In May 1986, thesecond cabinet Brundtland took over as thecabinet Willoch lost avote of confidence. Strand was brought back to the government's offices, this time asMinister of Social Affairs. She stayed in this position until October 1989, when the second cabinet Brundtland fell due to the1989 election. However, its successor lasted only one year, and Strand returned in 1990 asNorwegian Minister of Government Administration and Labour in thethird cabinet Brundtland. In addition, she had been elected to the Oslo city council for the term 1987–1991.[1]
In between the two tenures as government minister, she had worked as a "project leader" at BI, theNorwegian School of Management. When leaving the third cabinet Brundtland in September 1992, she returned to BI to work as a "special advisor". From 1993 to 1996 she worked as a regional director of theResearch Council of Norway. From 1997 to 2005 she headed the state-run directorateNorwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. In 2005 she returned to the hospital business to work as director ofUllevål University Hospital.[1]
During her career she has been a member of several boards and committees, both public and private. During her early political career, she was a member of the kindergarten committee of Oslo, as well as a member of the board of the publicly owned electricity companyOslo Lysverker, both from 1971 to 1975. From 1971 to 1979 she was a member of the regional planning council for Oslo andAkershus. She returned in 1990-1991 as a member of the cultural committee in Oslo.[1]
In 1984 she became a board member of theNorwegian Confederation of Sports. She left in 1987, but returned as vice president of the organization from 1994 to 1999. She was also a board member of theNorwegian Handball Federation from 1993 to 1995. She was also a member of the board of the publishing houseUniversitetsforlaget from 1982 to 1985, and theBank of Norway from 1990 to 1999. She chaired the board of theNational Institute of Occupational Health from 1990 to 1991, and was also involved in theRoyal Norwegian Society for Development and the NorwegianUNESCO commission. From 1993 to 1994, she was deputy chair of the organizationSosialdemokrater mot EU, which opposed a Norwegian application for membership in the European Union.[1] Following the1994 Norwegian European Union membership referendum, such a membership was out of the question.
After some years without committee or board memberships, she joined the board of theInternational Development Law Organization andArbeidsgiverforeningen Spekter in 2007. Also, since 2006 she has chaired theKronprinsparets Humanitære Fond,[1] ahumanitarian fund initiated byHaakon, Crown Prince of Norway and the Crown PrincessMette-Marit.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs 1986–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Norwegian Minister of Government Administration and Labour 1990–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Civic offices | ||
| Preceded by Arild Eik (acting) | Director of theNorwegian Agency for Development Cooperation 1997–2005 | Succeeded by |
