Chair of the Board’s Annual Speech 2026

Your Majesty.

Ladies and gentlemen.

I have been looking forward to this evening, when we celebrate SDU's 60th anniversary.

Your Majesty's grandfather attended the opening of the University, so it is a particular pleasure for us to have you with us this evening. Thank you very much indeed.

There is much for us to be proud of. I would like to thank all our employees and students for the tremendous work they put in every day, with ambition and initiative.

SDU has long been committed to sharing its knowledge. Let us revisit the Annual University Celebration in 1977. On that occasion, the then Rector, Aage Trommer, was presented with a gift from the students - 'the golden crowbar'. The gift was given with a smile. But the message behind it was serious: the University must not shut itself away from the world.

That was - and still is - a good recipe for a strong university: to be deeply committed to research without becoming inward-looking. To safeguard academic standards while opening our doors to the world. To prioritise excellent dissemination. I think that sums up rather well the 60 years we are celebrating this evening.

In our lives, we often know when we are doing something for the first time. Our first kiss. Our first girlfriend or boyfriend. Our first drunken night out. Our first car. Our first day at SDU!

We are much less likely to know when we are doing something for the last time. But tonight is the last time I will have the privilege of giving a speech at SDU's Annual University Celebration, as my term cannot be extended again. I am grateful for the time I have had here.

When it's your last time, it's tempting to reveal what really goes on behind the scenes. But how far does one dare to go?

I turned to the Rector for advice. His response was: 'You can go far. Very far'. By the end of this evening, we'll know whether that was sound advice.

Some of you may be curious about how the Chair and the Rector work together.

We got a head start over dinner at a restaurant in central Odense between Christmas and New Year in 2022. The SVM government had not yet been formed.

I had to break the ice, and I thought an insightful question would do the trick. So I asked the Rector if he would like to tell me about his view of human nature.

Suppressing his surprise at my profundity, the Rector replied, with a twinkle in his eye: 'Fundamentally, I believe there are three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't!'

We quickly established a way of working together characterised by openness, mutual respect and a willingness to inspire one another. I was impressed when the Rector spoke of his unwavering loyalty to SDU, something he has demonstrated as a student, lecturer, researcher, dean and now Rector - and as a father whose children are students.

It is the Rector who wears the academic chains and 'is' the University. But the University Board also has responsibilities which, in the most minimalist interpretation, include appointing the Rectorate, approving the strategy and approving the budget and annual accounts. Weighty responsibilities. Fortunately, however, our collaboration grew to encompass much more, giving us a 360-degree view of the University.

And yes, I did have two pints that evening, but the matter was dealt with before it could turn into an issue.

The sun, which represents energy, warmth, light and enlightenment, is shining on SDU.

But that does not happen by itself.

Part of the explanation is precisely that we have done what the students called for in 1977: we have opened ourselves up to the world. To businesses. To foundations. To international research communities. And to the society we exist to serve and create value with.

'Fyn er fin' - 'Funen is fabulous', wrote the duo Lasse & Mathilde. If Signe Svendsen, who will be performing in a little while, were to write a similar song today, it would be called 'The Region of Southern Denmark is fabulous'. Less catchy, but no less true. And many of us here tonight would say that SDU is the epicentre of the Region of Southern Denmark.

When I turned 60 last year, I thought to myself: 'Congratulations - you're now too old to die young'. But unlike a person, a university at 60 is still young. A university can live to be 1,000 years old, or older still. So we have a responsibility to keep the full beam of enlightenment on as we steer SDU into the future.

And we can afford to stay on full beam, because I don't believe conditions for SDU have ever been better. We owe this to our very talented Minister, Christina Egelund. Thank you very much indeed.

However, we must not take the support for granted. We have a shared responsibility to make clear just how much value we contribute to society. Otherwise, we cannot expect those favourable conditions to continue. As the saying goes, we must be prepared to change if we are to preserve what is worth preserving.

When I joined SDU's University Board just over seven years ago, I had a number of preconceptions. One of them concerned the pace of things. Or rather, the lack of it. I raised the issue with the Rector. Why couldn't things move faster? The Rector told me that I had to understand that things take time. You can't have a baby in one month by starting nine pregnancies on the same evening. Since then, I've had to acknowledge that things move much faster than they appear to from the sidelines.

And I can prove it: In a short space of time, SDU, together with its partners, has created the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute 2.0, Large Structure Productions and the Vejle campus.

Equally important is the support we receive from foundations, the EU and companies. From 1 January 2023 to the present day, the University's annual external funding has increased by more than DKK 500 million and is expected to reach close to DKK 1.7 billion this year. External funding is now our largest source of income, exceeding our two other main sources: education funding and core funding. Let me be clear: Without external funding, we would be a different and smaller university.

I would like to thank the generous foundations. And our response to their support is: You ain't seen nothing yet.

These results could not have been achieved without the extraordinary efforts of dedicated people over many decades. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and it is only because of their excellent work that we can look forward to new, sunlit horizons.

Research and education are, as we know, our proud kingdom's most important natural resource. The course has been set: dentistry and dental hygiene in Odense, MedTech, the Innovation Axis and Vejle.

We will remain firmly committed to academic excellence. We will continue to demonstrate that SDU makes a real difference. Our doors will remain open.

SDU is 60 years old - but its best years are yet to come!