Meet Göran Eriksson, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Tell us a little about yourself and how you ended up in California.

Shortly after I had graduated from Lunds Tekniska Högskola I got an offer to work at Sveriges Tekniska Attacheers office in Los Angeles. My girlfriend, Britta, who I met in Lund and who is now my wife, had also joined me in Los Angeles so we decided when my contract was up and it was time to return to Sweden, to stay and we started a  company in Los Angeles. The rest is history as they say. We now have two sons, one starting medical school and one studing mechanical engineering.

As a young student of Lund University you were highly involved in various student organizations. What found memories do you have from your time in Lund?

I learned a lot from my time as vice chair and chair of Lunds Studentkår and as a member of Karnevalskommitten 1982. The most fond memories are from all the things and activities I did with my student friends, many who I still see quite often and do fun activities with. But the best thing was that through all these activities I met my future wife.

You have been involved in creating the Lund University Foundation and have been its Chairman for 3 years. What was the reason behind the creation of LUF?

The initiative was taken and developed by the University. I become part of it about a year into the work when a local representative was needed to take the next step and apply for tax exempt status and organize the foundation. The main purpose is to offer alumni, and friends of Lund University in the United States a familiar and tax deductible way of contributing to the University, its  research, and to provide scholarships to its students. We also assist other departments at the University in building up an Alumni network in the US.

What is Lund University Foundation main purpose?

The main purpose is to raise money for donations to Lund University. We have a great board of trustees and staff that are working hard at that.

And finally, what message do you want to send to Lund University Alumni and Friends of Lund who reads this newsletter? How and why should they get involved and donate to Lund University Foundation?

We all have fond memories from the time in Lund (except maybe the days around finals and when it had rained 2 weeks in a row). To connect to Alumni and reconnect to the University allows you to savor some of those memories but also to build your professional network in the US.

By donating to Lund University Foundation you contribute to the development and strengthening of Lund University for future generations of students and researchers and it is also a way of saying “Thank You”.