,
Nobel Prize in Physics ,
Nobel Prize in Physics , Fields Medal in 1962Alumni and faculty of Lund University are associated with, among other things: five Nobel Prizes, a Fields Medal, the creation of the first implantable
pacemaker, the development of
echocardiography, the spread of modern
physiotherapy, the discovery of the role of
dopamine as an independent neurotransmitter, the determination of the number of
chromosomes of man, the establishment of
osseointegration, the development of the
Bluetooth technology, and the development of the modern-day medical ventilator. The following is a selected list of some notable people who have been affiliated with Lund University as students or academics.
Humanities and economics Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) was a notable jurist and
philosopher known for his natural law theories, influencing
Adam Smith as well as
Thomas Jefferson.
Olof von Dalin (1708–1763) was an influential Swedish writer and historian of the late
enlightenment era.
Peter Wieselgren (1800–1877) was a Swedish priest, literature critic and prominent leader of the
Swedish temperance movement.
Knut Wicksell (1851–1926) was an influential economist, sometimes considered one of the founders of modern
macroeconomics.
Oscar Olsson (1877–1950) was an important developer of self-education in Sweden and known as the father of
study circles.
Bertil Ohlin (1899–1979) received the
Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 1977 for theories concerning international trade and capital, and was the leader of the Liberal's Peoples Party (
Folkpartiet) for 23 years.
Gunnar Jarring (1907–2002) was Sweden's ambassador in UN 1956–1958, and Sweden's
ambassador in
Washington DC 1958–1964.
Britta Holmström (1911–1992) was the founder of Individuell Människohjälp (IM), a human rights organization with activities in 12 countries.
Torsten Hägerstrand (1916–2004) was an internationally renowned geographer, considered the father of 'time geography' and receiver of the
Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud in 1992.
Judith Wallerstein (1921–2012) was a renowned psychologist and internationally recognized authority on the effects of marriage and divorce on children and their parents. The first person from Iceland to earn a degree in archaeology,
Ólafía Einarsdóttir, studied for her MA and PhD at Lund.
Biology and medicine Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), began his academic career in Lund by studying medicine and botany for a year before moving to
Uppsala. He is known as the father of modern
taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern
ecology.
Pehr Henrik Ling (1776–1839) is considered the prime developer of natural gymnastics, the father of Swedish massage, and one of the most important contributors to the development and spread of modern physical therapy.
Carl Adolph Agardh (1787–1859) made important contributions to the study of
algae and played an important role as a politician in raising educational standards in Sweden.
Elias Magnus Fries (1794–1878) was a notable botanist who played a prominent role in the creation of the modern taxonomy of mushrooms.
Nils Alwall (1904–1986) was a pioneer in hemodialysis who constructed the first practical dialysis machine, commercialized by
The Gambro Company.
Rune Elmqvist (1906–1996) was a physician and medical engineer who developed the first implantable
pacemaker as well as the first inkjet ECG printer.
Lars Leksell (1907–1986) was a notable neurosurgeon who was the father of radiosurgery and later the inventor of the Gamma Knife.
Inge Edler (1911–2001) developed the
medical ultrasonography in 1953, commonly known as echocardiography, together with Hellmuth Hertz, and was awarded the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award in 1977.
Sune Bergström (1916–2004) and
Bengt Samuelsson (1934–2024) were awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 for "discoveries concerning
prostaglandins and related biologically active substances".
Arvid Carlsson (1923–2018) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000 for "discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system" and is noted for having discovered the role of
dopamine as an independent neurotransmitter.
Mathematics, engineering and physical sciences Per Georg Scheutz (1785–1873) was a Swedish lawyer, publicist and inventor who created the first working programmable difference engine with a printing unit.
Martin Wiberg (1826–1905) was a prolific inventor who, among many things, created the first difference engine the size of the sewing machine that could calculate and print logarithmic tables.
Johannes Rydberg (1854–1919) was a renowned physicist famous for the Rydberg formula and the Rydberg constant.
Carl Charlier (1862–1934) was an internationally acclaimed astronomer who made important contributions to
astronomy as well as statistics and was awarded the
James Craig Watson Medal in 1924 and the
Bruce Medal in 1933.
Manne Siegbahn (1886–1978), a student of Rydberg, was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics 1924 for his discoveries and research in the field of
X-ray spectroscopy.
Oskar Klein (1894–1977) was an internationally renowned theoretical physicist famous for the Klein-Kaluza theory, the Klein-Gordon equation, and the Klein-Nishina formula.
Pehr Edman (1916–1977) was a renowned biochemist who developed a method for sequencing proteins, known as the Edman degradation, and has been called the father of modern
biochemistry.
Hellmuth Hertz (1920–1990) developed the
echocardiography together with Inge Edler (see above), and was also the first to develop the inkjet technology of printing.
Lars Hörmander (1931–2012) is sometimes considered the foremost contributor to the modern theory of linear partial differential equations and received the
Fields Medal in 1962 for his early work on equations with
constant coefficients.
Karl Johan Åström (1934–) is a notable control theorist, who in 1993 was awarded the
IEEE Medal of Honor for "fundamental contributions to theory and applications of adaptive control technology".
Sven Mattisson (1955–) is an electrical engineer who was one of the developers of the Bluetooth technology. In 2023,
Anne L'Huillier (1958-), professor since 1997, was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics for her work in
attosecond physics. Danish
structural chemist,
crystallographer and scientific director
Sine Larsen was interim acting director for MAX-Lab during the transition to the
MAX IV Laboratory.
Politics and law Rutger Macklean (1742–1816) was a prominent captain, politician and land owner remembered for introducing agricultural reforms leading to more effective large-scale farming in Sweden.
Ernst Wigforss (1881–1977) was
Sweden's finance minister 1925–1926 and 1932–1949 and has been considered the 'foremost developer of the Swedish
Social Democracy'.
Östen Undén (1886–1974) was an internationally recognized professor of law and
Sweden's minister of foreign affairs 1924–1926 and 1945–1962.
Tage Erlander (1901–1985) was Sweden's
prime minister 1945–1969, potentially a record of uninterrupted tenure in parliamentary democracies, and led his party through eleven elections.
Ingvar Carlsson (1934–) served as Sweden's prime minister 1986–1991 and 1994–1996 and as Sweden's deputy prime minister 1982–1986.
Rupiah Banda (1937–) was the president of
Zambia 2008–2011 and its vice president 2006–2008.
Leif Silbersky (1938–) is a notable lawyer and author famous for representing so-called high-profile cases in Sweden.
Marianne Lundius (1949–) was between 2010 and 2016 the president of the
Supreme court of Sweden, the first female justice in this position.
Utoni Nujoma (1952–) was
Namibia's minister of foreign affairs 2010–2012 and is since 2012 the country's minister of justice.
Literature and culture Thomas Thorild (1759–1808) was a notable Swedish writer, poet, and philosopher who, among many things, was an early proponent of
gender equality.
Esaias Tegnér (1782–1846) was an influential writer, poet, bishop and professor of the
Greek language, perhaps most famous for his work
Frithiofs Saga.
Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895) was a notable journalist, writer and researcher, most famous for his works
Tomten and
Singoalla and regarded as one of Sweden's most important authors of the 19th century.
Frans G Bengtsson (1894–1954) was a Swedish writer and poet famous for his novels
The Long Ships (Röde Orm) which have been translated to at least 23 languages.
Fritiof Nilsson Piraten (1895–1972) was a Swedish lawyer and popular author, known for his works Bombi Bitt och Jag and Bock i Örtagård.
Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) was a notable writer and poet who was also the head of the Swedish Radio Theatre 1936–1950.
Ivar Harrie (1899–1973) was one of the founders of the newspaper , as well as its editor in chief 1944–1960.
Elisabet Wentz-Janacek (1923 – 2014) was a composer and musicologist who mapped 20,000 different melody variants for Swedish hymns and helped create the Swedish Choral Registrar.
Hans Alfredsson (1931–2017) was a Swedish comedian, author and actor, sometimes regarded as the foremost representative of the so-called Lundahumorn (the humor from Lund).
Agnes von Rosen was a bullfighter and stunt performer who spent most of her later years in Mexico.
Axwell (Born as Axel Christofer Hedfors, 1977–) is a world-renowned
DJ, perhaps best known as a member of the trio the
Swedish House Maffia.
Elisabet Wentz-Janacek was a musicologist, organist, and major contributor to the Swedish Choral Registrar.
Business and entrepreneurship Hans Rausing (1926–2019) was the managing director of
Tetra Pak 1954–1985, the company's chairman 1985–1993, and has been ranked as the third richest man in Sweden.
Pehr G. Gyllenhammar (1935–) is a businessman who was the CEO and chairman of
Volvo 1971–1983 and 1983–1993 respectively, the chairman of Procordia 1990–1992, Aviva 1998–2005,
Investment AB Kinnevik 2004–2007, and is the current vice chairman of Rothschild Europe.
Bertil Hult (1941–) founded
EF Education from his dormitory in Lund and was the company's CEO until 2002 and chairman until 2008.
Olof Stenhammar (1941–) is a Swedish financier and businessman who founded Optionsmäklarna, OM, which later changed its name to OMX and today is a part of the
NASDAQ OMX Group.
Michael Treschow (1943–) is the current chairman of
Unilever and was the CEO of
Atlas Copco and
Elektrolux 1991–1998 and 1998–2002 respectively, as well as the chairman of
Ericsson 2002–2011.
Stefan Persson (1947–) was the CEO of
H&M 1982–1997 and has been the company's chairman since 1998 and has been ranked among the top ten richest men in the world.
Dan Olofsson (1950–) is a Swedish entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the company Sigma and the foundation
Star for Life and is a large shareholder in the company
ÅF.
Anders Dahlvig (1957–) was the CEO and President of the
IKEA group between 1999 and 2009, during which IKEA experienced an average growth of 11 percent, and is the current chairman of the New Wave Group.
Charlotta Falvin (1966–) is a Swedish businesswoman who is the chairman of the companies Teknopol, Barista, Multi-Q and Ideon AB and the previous CEO of TAT and Decuma.
Ann-Sofie Johansson is the Creative Advisor and former Head of Design for fashion retailer H&M.
Cristina Stenbeck (1977–) is a Swedish businesswoman who is the current chairman of Investment AB Kinnevik. ==Partner universities==