Yngvar Trygvessønn Gjessing, retired UNIS professor in geophysics, has been conferred Knight Class I of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, for his longstanding contribution to research and teaching.

Text and photo: Eva Therese Jenssen

Retired UNIS professor Yngvar Trygvessønn Gjessing received the order at a ceremony at UNIS last Saturday, led by the Order’s Chancellor Egil Vindorum. The order, awarded by HM King Harald V, was bestowed on professor Gjessing for his longstanding contribution to science and teaching.

Gjessing, born in 1938, received his degree in meteorology from the University of Bergen in 1965, where he later became a professor. In 1994 he became associate professor in Polar meteorology at UNIS and in 1996 he became full professor.

Chancellor Egil Vindorum said that professor Gjessing’s scientific contribution is both significant and diverse. His scientific production includes a long list of projects within as diverse fields as sea ice and ocean ice, local meteorology, processes in ice and snow, Polar meteorology, biometeorology, glaciology and the middle atmosphere.

- Professor Gjessing is one of Norway’s most famous meteorologists and has participated in eight scientific expeditions to the Antarctic and many expeditions to Svalbard, the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea. He has been advisor for 20 master students and 10 Ph.D. students in meteorology. He has initiated a standard for how teaching should be planned and conducted with a clear field- and experimental profile, Vindorum said.

The Council of the Order has emphasized that the UNIS Department of Arctic Geophysics has become a powerful department under the leadership of Professor Gjessing. The Council has also stressed that his involvement, attitudes, and ideas, based on thorough scientific investigations, has had a great impact on the development and evolvement of modern Polar research.

Professor Yngvar T. Gjessing receives the Knight Class I of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav by Chancellor Egil Vindorum (right) and Vice Chancellor Thomas Gram.

About the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav was established by King Oscar I in 1847 and is bestowed as a “reward for excellent services to Country and mankind”. The Order of St. Olav is named after the martyred Viking king of Norway, Olav the Holy. The Order is divided in five classes: Grand Cross, Commander with Star, Commander, Knight Class I and Knight.