100 Notable alumni of University of Bergen

Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He was leader of the party's youth wing, Young Liberals of Norway, from 2003 to 2007.

Gunn-Vivian Eide is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party.

Øyvind Skarbø is a Norwegian drummer and composer, raised in Stranda Municipality, and now residing in Bergen Municipality.

Steinar Stjernø is a Norwegian academic.

Ragnhild Stolt-Nielsen is a Norwegian politician, political scientist, and academic administrator of the Conservative Party. She served as Bergen's Chief Commissioner from 2013 to 2014 when she lost her nomination for the 2015 local elections to Martin Smith-Sivertsen.

Dag Ole Teigen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party (AP). He represented Hordaland in the Norwegian Parliament, where he met from 2005 to 2009 in the place of Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, who was appointed to a government position. He was elected on his own right to serve a full term from 2009 to 2013.

Knut Aukland was a Norwegian physiologist. He made significant contributions to renal physiology, particularly in fields of renal blood flow measurement and regulation and transcapillary fluid balance, through his studies of blood circulation in the kidneys.

Øyvind Hegg-Lunde is a Norwegian drummer and composer, raised in Borgund, Lærdal, but today resides in Bergen. He is known from collaborations with José Gonzalez, Junip, Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken, Frode Haltli, Trygve Seim, Per Jørgensen, Terje Isungset, Håkon Kornstad, Kurt Johannessen, Stein Urheim, The Megaphonic Thrift, Odin Staveland, Odd Martin Skålnes, Erlend O. Nødtvedt, Nils Petter Molvær, Eivind Aarset...

Frode Alfson Bjørdal is philosophy professor emeritus at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Sigurd Hille is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Hordaland in 2013 where he was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs until 2017.

Odd Magnus Faltinsen is a Norwegian mathematician and professor of marine technology.

Helge Arnulf Tverberg was a Norwegian mathematician. He was a professor in the Mathematics Department at the University of Bergen, his speciality being combinatorics; he retired at the mandatory age of seventy.

Marita Burmann Liabø is a Norwegian author.

Trond Helge Torsvik is a Norwegian professor of geophysics at the University of Oslo. He directs the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics. In 2015 Torsvik received the Leopold von Buch award for his outstanding contributions to the understanding of geodynamics. The prize is awarded by the German Geological Society. In 2016 he also received the Arthur Holmes Medal &...

Torkil Åmland is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party. He was appointed State Secretary for Robert Eriksson in the Ministry of Labour when Solberg's cabinet was formed in October 2013.

Sigbjørn Apeland is a musician (organ and Harmonium) and scientist, known from several recordings and for his work in the borderland between folk music, church music and improvisational music.

Olve Grotle is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He is a former mayor of Førde Municipality and Sunnfjord Municipality and has been a member of the Storting since 2021.

Jill Walker Rettberg is co-director of the Center for Digital Narrative and Professor of Digital Culture at the University of Bergen. She is "a leading researcher in self-representation in social media" and a European Research Council grantee (2018–2023) with the project Machine Vision in Everyday Life: Playful Interactions with Visual Technologies in Digital Art, Games, Narratives and Social Media. Rettberg...

Karsten Klepsvik was a Norwegian diplomat.

Merete Morken Andersen is a Norwegian novelist, children's writer and magazine editor, born in Hamar. Andersen won the prestigious Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 2002 for Hav av tid (Oceans of Time). She was editor of the literature periodical Vinduet (Window) from 1993 through 1997. Several of her books have been translated into English

Jakob Lothe is a Norwegian literary scholar and Professor of English literature at the University of Oslo.

Petter S. Rosenlund is a Norwegian dramatist. He is the headwriter of the tv series Hamilton and The Heavy Water War/ The Saboteurs (2015). He has written 17 scripts for TV, film and theater.

Laila Dåvøy is a Norwegian nurse and politician for the Christian Democratic Party. She is a former member of the Norwegian parliament and a former Minister and leader of the Norwegian Nurses' Union.

Hans Sande is a Norwegian psychiatrist, poet, novelist and children's writer. He was born in Bergen. He made his literary début in 1969 with the poetry collection Strime, for which he was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris. Among his children's books are Lita grøn grasbok from 1972 and Trastedikt from 1977.

Øyvind Rimbereid is a Norwegian author and composer of lyric poetry. He has worked as an instructor at Skrivekunstakademiet in Bergen. Rimbereid holds a cand. philol. degree from the University of Bergen with high marks in Nordic languages and literature. He won the Brage Prize 2008 for his poetry collection Herbarium.

Harald Torfinn Thune is a Norwegian civil servant.

Gunnar Danbolt is a Norwegian art historian.

Bernhard Sigmund Schultze; sometimes spelled Bernhard Sigismund Schultze was a German obstetrician and gynecologist. He was a younger brother to anatomist Max Schultze (1825–1874) and son of Karl August Sigismund Schultze (1795–1877).

Gunnar Skirbekk is a Norwegian philosopher. He is professor emeritus at the Department of Philosophy and the Center for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.

Linn Kristin Langley-Rasmussen Engø is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has served in several posts in Bergen, notably as the city commissioner for schools, kindergartens and sports between 2019 and 2020, and subsequently deputy mayor and then mayor.

Bjarte Breiteig is a Norwegian short story writer.

Ida Blom was a Norwegian historian.

Kyrre Nakkim is a Norwegian journalist.

Sverre Petterssen was a Norwegian meteorologist, prominent in the field of weather analysis and forecasting.

Kjetil Lund is a Norwegian civil servant and politician for the Labour Party.

Øystein Bogen is a Norwegian journalist and documentary film maker. Bogen has been working for TV 2 Norway as a foreign correspondent and editor since 1995.

Wenche Frogn Sellæg is a Norwegian handball player, physician and politician for the Conservative Party. She was Minister of Environmental Affairs 1981–1983, Minister of Justice 1985–1986, Minister of Social Affairs 1989–1990 and a member of the Parliament of Norway from 1985 to 1993.

Christine Sagen Helgø is a Norwegian politician of the Conservative Party who served as mayor of Stavanger from 2011 to 2019. Sagen Helgø has seen twelve years of Stavanger's politics, the last eight years as group leader of the Stavanger Conservative Party. In 2011, she replaced the former mayor of the same party, Leif Johan Sevland, who held the title...

Jørgen Lorentzen is a Norwegian literary scholar and independent film producer. His research has focused on the representation of men and masculinities in literature, film and popular culture. He became known to a broad audience through his participation in the TV program Hjernevask in 2010. He was employed as a researcher at the Centre for Gender Research in Oslo until...

Ane Breivik is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party.

Halvard Magne Kausland was a Norwegian jazz guitarist and civil servant.

Olav Akselsen was a Norwegian politician, who served six terms in the Norwegian Parliament for the Norwegian Labour Party, and was Minister of Petroleum and Energy in the first cabinet Stoltenberg from 2000 to 2001. From 2010 to 2021, he worked for the Norwegian Maritime Directorate.

Gunnhild Øyehaug is a Norwegian poet, writer and lecturer.

Torbjørn Mork was a Norwegian physician and civil servant.

Frank Rossavik is a Norwegian journalist and writer.

Svein Gjerdåker is a Norwegian newspaper editor.

Geir Pollestad is a Norwegian solicitor and politician for the Centre Party. He served as the minister of agriculture and food from 2023 to 2025, and has been a member of parliament for Rogaland since 2013.

Tor Bergeron was a Swedish meteorologist who proposed a mechanism for the formation of precipitation in clouds. In the 1930s, Bergeron and Walter Findeisen developed the concept that clouds contain both supercooled water and ice crystals. According to Bergeron, most precipitation is formed as a consequence of water evaporating from small supercooled droplets and accreting onto ice crystals, which then...

Knut Olav Åmås is a Norwegian writer, editor and politician for the Conservative Party.

Hilde Sandvik is a Norwegian journalist based in Bergen. Sandvik has a cand.philol. degree from the University of Bergen, majoring in art history. She edited the periodical Syn og Segn from 2003 to 2006, was briefly debate editor in the newspaper Dagbladet in 2005, and later journalist and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende from 2006 to 2016. She...

Olaug Nilssen is a Norwegian novelist, playwright, children's writer, essayist and magazine editor.

Gunnar Bovim is a Norwegian physician and civil servant. He has been the rector at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology from August 1, 2013 to August 21, 2019. After that he will be working with policy matters related to education and research at NTNU and be of disposal to NTNUs top management.

Oddgeir Bruaset is a Norwegian journalist and non-fiction writer.

Dag-Inge Ulstein is a Norwegian politician who has led the Christian Democratic Party since 2024. He previously served as its deputy leader from 2021 to 2024.

Espen J. Aarseth is a Norwegian academic specializing in the fields of video game studies and electronic literature. Aarseth completed his doctorate at the University of Bergen. He co-founded the Department of Humanistic Informatics at the University of Bergen, and worked there until 2003, at which time he was a full professor.

Ragnar Hovland is a Norwegian novelist, essayist, poet, and writer of children's books.

Gunnstein Akselberg is a Norwegian linguist and professor of Nordic linguistics at the University of Bergen.

Gunnar Stavrum is a Norwegian newspaper editor and author. Since 2003 he has been chief editor of the online newspaper Nettavisen.

Grethe Fatima Syéd is a Norwegian literary scholar, translator and author. She has translated fiction from English, obtained a doctorate with a dissertation on Olav Duun, and published books about the writer Torborg Nedreaas. Her fiction debut was Eventyr for voksne (Fairytales for adults, 2020). In 2019, she was awarded the Klassekampen Neshornet culture prize for her work.

Peter Christian Frølich is a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Conservative Party. He has served as a member of parliament for Hordaland since 2013.

Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby was a Swedish-born American meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics. He identified and characterized both the jet stream and the long waves in the westerlies that were later named Rossby waves.

Kjersti Toppe is a Norwegian physician and politician representing the Centre Party. She served as minister of children and families from 2021 to 2025, second deputy leader of the party since 2025 and a member of parliament from Hordaland since 2009.

Sarah Louise Rung is a Paralympic swimmer of Norway. She became a wheelchair user after a back surgery in 2008. She won two gold medals and two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She also has several medals from both World- and European Championships. 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Magnus Takvam is a Norwegian journalist.

Ingrid Halstensen is a sports anchor for TV 2 and a Norwegian Premier League journalist.

Marte Maaland Eberson is a Norwegian keyboardist and composer, known from bands including Morning Has Occurred and Highasakite. She is the daughter of the guitarist Jon Eberson.

Iselin Nybø is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party, who served as the Minister of Trade and Industry from 2020 to 2021. She also served as Minister of Higher Education from 2018 to 2020. She was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Rogaland in 2013, where she served as the first deputy chair of the Standing Committee on...

Sveinung Rotevatn is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. Rotevatn comes from Nordfjordeid, Sogn og Fjordane, and has a master's degree in law from the University of Bergen. He served as Minister of Climate and the Environment from 2020 to 2021. Prior to that, he served as a state secretary at the same department from 2018 to 2020 under...

Tomas Espedal is a Norwegian writer.

Terje Tvedt is a Norwegian academic, author and documentary film maker.

Kari Nessa Nordtun is a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Labour Party. She currently serves as minister of education since 2023 and was mayor of Stavanger from 2019 to 2023.

Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld is a Norwegian journalist, foreign correspondent and non-fiction writer.

Maria Parr is a Norwegian children's writer.

Monica Mæland is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party who served as Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2021. Previously she served as Minister Local Government from 2018 to 2020, and Minister of Trade and Industry from 2013 to 2018. In local politics, she was the Chief Commissioner of Bergen from 2003 to 2013, and leader of the Hordaland...

Toril Moi is James B. Duke Professor of Literature and Romance Studies and Professor of English, Philosophy and Theatre Studies at Duke University. Moi is also the Director of the Center for Philosophy, Arts, and Literature at Duke. As an undergraduate, she attended University of Bergen, where she studied in the Literature Department. Previously she held positions as a lecturer...

Lars Gule is a Norwegian philosopher. He has graduated with a doctorate in philosophy, and is an associate professor (at Oslo Metropolitan University). From 2000 to 2005 he was secretary general of the Norwegian Humanist Association. Gule became known to the general public in 1977 when after having joined the DFLP group, Gule was arrested in Beirut, Lebanon with Semtex...

Aslak Sira Myhre is a Norwegian culture administrator. Since 2014 he is director of the National Library of Norway. Myhre has been a leftwing politician, and was for a period leader of the former party Red Electoral Alliance (RV). In the local election in Oslo in 2015 he was listed for Red, the party succeeding Red Electoral Alliance since 2007,...

Kjartan Fløgstad is a Norwegian author. Fløgstad was born in the industrial city of Sauda in Ryfylke, Rogaland. He studied literature and linguistics at the University of Bergen. Subsequently, he worked for a period as an industrial worker and as a sailor before he debuted as a poet with his collection of poems titled Valfart (Pilgrimage) in 1968. He received...

Frank Henrik Aarebrot was a Norwegian political scientist, political commentator, and professor of comparative politics. Among the most quoted and popular academics in the Norwegian press, he became better known during his later years for his televised "marathon lectures" and his recurring role in coverage of national and international elections on Norwegian television.

Selda Ekiz is a Norwegian presenter on NRK and is a trained physicist. She grew up in Sande in Vestfold and her parents immigrated from Turkey in the 1970s.

Gunnar Staalesen is a Norwegian writer. He is a major figure in the Nordic noir crime fiction genre through his 20 novels featuring Varg Veum, a private detective in Bergen on the rainy west coast of Norway. The Varg Veum series has been praised as one of the best in modern crime fiction, and Staalesen has sold more than 4...

Lubna Boby Jaffery is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has served as minister of culture and equality since 2023 and a member of parliament for Hordaland since 2025. She previously served as a deputy member for the same constituency from 2009 to 2025 and Bergen city commissioner for labour, social affairs, and housing from 2019 to 2021....

Anne Holt is a Norwegian author, lawyer and former Minister of Justice.

Susanne Aartun Sundfør is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Haugesund, Sundfør started touring in 2005.

Bent Høie is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party who has served as county governor of Rogaland since 2021. He previously served as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2013 to 2021, and as a member of the Storting from Rogaland from 2000 to 2021.

Erna Solberg is a Norwegian politician and was the Leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2025. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and as the leader of the Conservative Party from 2004 to 2026.

Karl Ove Knausgård is a Norwegian author. He became known worldwide for a series of six autobiographical novels titled My Struggle (Min Kamp). The Wall Street Journal has described him as "one of the 21st century's greatest literary sensations".

Jon Olav Fosse is a Norwegian author, translator, and playwright. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable."

Morten Tyldum is a Norwegian film director. He is best known in his native Norway for directing the thriller film Headhunters (2011), based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, and internationally for directing the historical drama The Imitation Game (2014), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, and the science fiction drama Passengers (2016).

Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair is a Norwegian psychologist and Professor of Personality Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He is married to Tonje Westgaard Kennair, and they have three children together. He was director of the Department of Psychology from 2009 to 2013. His research interests include clinical psychology and evolutionary psychology, and he is widely known...

Anne Marit Bjørnflaten is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.

Helga Pedersen is a Norwegian politician, former Minister, and member of the Storting, who served as the deputy leader for the Labour Party from 2007 to 2015. A native of Sør-Varanger Municipality, she served between 2003 and 2005 as the County Mayor of the northernmost Finnmark county. From 2005 to 2009 she served as Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs,...

Kristin Krohn Devold is a former Minister of Defence of Norway. She was elected to three terms in the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo as a representative for Conservative Party.

Arild Hermstad is a Norwegian politician for the Green Party, who has served as the party leader since 2022. He previously served as Party spokesperson, alongside Une Bastholm, from 2018 to 2020, and then the deputy leader from 2020 to 2022.

Trine Eilertsen is a Norwegian journalist and newspaper editor. She is the current editor-in-chief of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

Natalie Sandtorv is a Norwegian jazz musician (vocals, waterphone, harmonium, electronics) married July 29, 2016, to drummer Ole Mofjell, residing in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Halldór Ásgrímsson was an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 September 2004 to 15 June 2006 and was the leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006.

Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi is a Kenyan politician who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD from September 2013 to February 2021 when he stepped down to run for the Kenyan Presidency. Prior to joining UNCTAD, Kituyi was Chief Executive of the Kenya Institute of Governance, based in Nairobi. He served as Kenya's Minister of...

Marian Asantewah Nkansah FGA is a Ghanaian environmental chemist. Her research work focuses on finding solutions to environmental problems associated with levels and fate of toxic substances such as heavy/trace metals, persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food, water, soil, rocks, sediments and other environmental samples. She also researches on the interaction of these pollutants with each...