The Sweden-America Foundation is a non-profit organization that enables studies and research in the United States and Canada for accomplished Swedish students and researchers through fellowships. The Fellows return to Sweden with knowledge, contacts, ideas, and experiences of great importance for Swedish research, business, and society at large.
| 3,000+ | 2000 | 7 |
| graduate and research alumni | undergraduate alumni | Nobel Laureates |
Origin, mission and operations
The Sweden-America Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1919 on the initiative of Swedish leaders of science, religion, business, politics, and the arts. Among the founders and founding Members of the Board were scientists and Nobel Laureates Svante Arrhenius and Theodor Svedberg; Archbishop and Nobel laureate Nathan Söderblom; banker and industrialist Jacob Wallenberg; industrialist and businessman Axel Ax:son Johnson; Prime Minister Hjalmar Branting; author and Nobel laureate Selma Lagerlöf; and artist Anders Zorn.
In accordance with the Foundation’s statutes, the objectives are to “work for the development of a relationship between Sweden, on the one hand, and the United States of America and Canada on the other, by promoting the exchange of scientific, cultural and practical experiences between the countries and in particular through presenting fellowships to young men and women for research, post graduate and graduate level studies in the USA and Canada.” The Sweden-America Foundation administers fifteen permanent funds. The returns from fourteen of the funds are used to finance fellowships and travel grants. These funds are:
- The Anders Zorn Fellowship Fund
- The ASEA Fellowship Fund
- The Kooperativa Förbundet KF Fellowship Fund
- The J Sigfrid Edström Fellowship Fund
- The J P Seeburg Fellowship Fund
- The Fritz O Fernström Fellowship Fund
- The Hans Werthén Fellowship Fund
- The Axel Ax:son Johnson Fellowship Fund
- The Ernst O Ek Fellowship Fund
- The Roland Nilsson Fellowship Fund
- The Prince Bertil Fund*
- The Nils Björkman Memorial Fund
- The Ingemar Dörfer Fellowship Fund for studies at Harvard University
- The Bicentennial Swedish-American Exchange Fund
- The Mix Family Entrepreneur Foundation
The Sweden-America Foundation is dependent upon donations from Swedish companies, organizations and private individuals.
Prince Bertil’s Fund supports the foundation’s operation and is not used to finance fellowships.
The Sweden-America Foundation’s Nobel Prize Laureates:
Hugo Theorell, Medicine 1955
Ragnar Granit, Medicine 1967
Hannes Alfvén, Physics 1970
Bertil Ohlin, Swedish Central Bank Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel (Economics) 1977
Kaj Siegbahn, Physics 1981
Sune Bergström, Medicine 1982
Arvid Carlsson, Medicine 2000
Honorary chairs
Prince Bertil was honorary chairman of the Sweden-America Foundation from 1950 until his death in 1997. The Prince succeeded Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, who had been honorary chairman from 1919, when the Foundation was established. In honor of Prince Bertil’s 70th birthday, the ”Prince Bertil’s Fellowship Fund” was established. After the death of Prince Bertil, his wife Princess Lilian participated in the Foundation’s annual meetings and presented his honorary award, until her passing in 2013.
The Fellowship Program
Fellowships are awarded for research and graduate level education in the United States and Canada, with funding from the fellowship funds, partners, companies, organizations and private individuals. The Sweden-America Foundation also collaborates with Swedish and American partner institutions within the Fellowship program:
- Borgrättsfonderna, which is administered by The Marshall of the Realm at the Royal Court in Stockholm. The Sweden-America Foundation annually nominates candidates for fellowships announced by this fund.
- Thanks To Scandinavia Inc. (New York). Each year, Thanks To Scandinavia offers fellowships to the Scandinavian countries in gratitude for their efforts to save Jews during World War II. The Sweden-America Foundation nominates candidates for two fellowships annually.
The Fellowship Process
➢ The fellowship application is announced annually, for studies at graduate, doctoral and postdoc levels, at leading institutions in the United States and Canada.
➢ Senior experts from leading positions of Swedish academia review fellowship applications in their respective fields. Applications are ranked and submitted with written reviews to the fellowship committee.
➢ The fellowship committee evaluates and prioritizes applications.
➢ The board of directors confirms the fellow- and scholarship recipients.
In addition to the fellowship program for research and graduate level education, the Sweden-America Foundation administers two smaller programs with tuition waivers for high school and undergraduate studies in the United States, and two programs with travel grants for non-research purposes.
Board of Directors
Christian Salamon, Chair
Christian Salamon is Chairman of NCAB Group AB and OSM Holding AB. He is Board member of Altor Fund Manager AB and Industrifonden. Christian holds an MSc from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He received a fellowship from the Sweden-America Foundation when he studied at Harvard University. He is Chairman of the Investment Committee.
Linn Edström Larsson, first deputy chair
Alumna Linn Edström Larsson received a scholarship to the Lawrenceville School in 1994, and she holds a double degree from Stockholm University — a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s degree in Economics. She has been CFO at Folksam, and today, Linn Edström Larsson is CFO at Nordea Asset Management.
Axel Mörner, second deputy chair
Axel Mörner is a member of the board since 2024. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration. He is Vice Chair of Nordstjernan AB, Chair of Axel Johnson Inc. and Björksund Holding AB. Member of the board of the Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit, Altocumulus Holding AB, the investment council for Altocumulus Asset Management, and the Brilliant Minds Foundation, among others.
Gustaf Arrhenius
Gustaf Arrhenius is the Director of the Institute for Futures Studies. He is also Professor of Practical Philosophy. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from University of Toronto and his FD in practical philosophy from Uppsala University. He is also an alumnus of the Sweden-America Foundation (1994).
Håkan Ekström
Håkan Ekström holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. Before that, he studied for a year at SUNY Albany on an undergraduate scholarship from the Sweden-America Foundation. Håkan is the Managing Partner at the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson’s Stockholm office, where he also serves on the firm’s global Advisory Board. He is furthermore a co-founder and shareholder of Nordic Interim Executive Solutions, where he serves on the board. Håkan previously worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Anders Flodström
Anders Flodström is Professor Emeritus of Materials Physics. Between 2007 and 2010, he served as University Chancellor of Sweden. He has also been President of Linköping University (1996–1999) and of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (1999–2007). Anders is one of the initiators of the synchrotron radiation laboratory MAX-lab in Lund, where he also served as coordinator for synchrotron light research until 1985. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1990. Anders is a board member of the Sweden-America Foundation and was a cash grant fellow at Stanford University in 1974.
Reinhold Geijer
Reinhold Geijer holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. He retired in 2016 from his positions as CEO of Nordisk Renting and Head of the Nordic Region for The Royal Bank of Scotland to focus on board assignments and various projects. Reinhold has previously served as a director and board member of several major companies, most notably as CEO of Föreningssparbanken (now Swedbank). He is a board member of the Sweden-America Foundation and serves on its investment committee. In the 1970s, Reinhold was an intern in Seattle, WA, through the Foundation’s visa assistance program.
Johanna Möllerström
Johanna Möllerström received her PhD in economics from Harvard University in 2013 and is now a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Sciences and the Economics Department at George Mason University in Arlington, VA, USA. She is also affiliated with the Mercatus Center (Arlington, VA), and the German Institute for Economic Research (Berlin, Germany).
She is a columnist on the editorial page of Svenska Dagbladet and is an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Business Research in Stockholm.
Annika Rembe
Annika Rembe is a Swedish diplomat who has served as Commissioner General for the Swedish Pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Director-General of the Swedish Institute, and most recently as Consul General in New York. She currently works as an advisor and serves as Chair of the Board for UHR (Swedish Council for Higher Education)
Board of Trustees
Elected until 2026
- Pär Arvidsson
- Bengt Baron
- Dag Blanck
- Karin Forseke
- Christer Fuglesang
- Sven Hindrikes
- Larry Leksell
- Sture Lindmark
- Anders Ljungh
- Annika Rembe
- Magnus Sjöqvist
- Madeleine Sjöstedt
- Hans T:son Söderström
Elected until 2027
- Ylva Berg
- Katarina Bonde
- Martin Börresen
- Lars Heikensten
- Lena Kaplan
- Christina Lampe Önnerud
- Svante Lindqvist
- Kenneth Macartney
- Björn Savén
- Lars Strannegård
- Elisabeth Tarras-Wahlberg
- Udo Zander
Elected until 2028
- Olle Andreasson
- Viveca Ax:son Johnson
- Bengt Braun
- Mariana Burenstam Linder
- Kerstin Calissendorff
- Madeleine Ekholm
- Sverker Johansson
- Fredrik Lundberg
- Leif Pagrotsky
- Anders H Pers
- Per Strömberg
- Sten Westerberg
The Fellowship Committee
Professor emeritus Anders Flodström, Chair of the Committee
Anders Flodström is a Professor of Materials Physics. Between 2007 and 2010, he served as University Chancellor of Sweden. He has also been President of Linköping University (1996–1999) and of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (1999–2007). Anders is one of the initiators of the synchrotron radiation laboratory MAX-lab in Lund, where he also served as coordinator for synchrotron light research until 1985. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1990. Anders is a board member of the Sweden-America Foundation and was a cash grant fellow at Stanford University in 1974.
Professor emeritus Erling Norrby
Erling Norrby is a Swedish physician and virologist who has served as Professor at the Karolinska Institutet (KI) and formerly as Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He studied medicine at Karolinska Institute, KI, earning his Licentiate of Medicine degree in 1963 and later his Doctor of Medicine. He became Associate Professor at KI in 1964. Norrby began teaching virology as early as 1959 and was Professor of Virology at KI from 1972 to 1997. From 1990 to 1996, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He has been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since 1981 and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1997 until June 30, 2003. Since 2001, he has held the honorary title of Chamberlain at the Royal Court of Sweden, though he is no longer in active service.
Professor emeritus Daniel Tarschys
Daniel Tarschys is a Swedish political science professor at Stockholm University. In 1983, he was appointed Professor of Eastern European Studies at Uppsala University and in 1985 Professor of Political Science at Stockholm University. Tarschys served as a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) from 1976 to 1982 and 1985 to 1994, and as State Secretary to Prime Minister Ola Ullsten from 1978 to 1979. In 1994, he was appointed Secretary General of the Council of Europe. During his tenure, Russia became the 39th member of the Council of Europe. The ceremony in Strasbourg, in which Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov handed over the membership documents to Tarschys and they raised the Russian flag outside the Council headquarters, has been described as the symbolic end of the Cold War. Tarschys was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on January 16, 2008. He was also a Sweden-America Foundation scholar in 1966 at Princeton University.
Maria Persson Gulda, PhD
Maria Persson Gulda holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University. She has had a professional career as a consultant and later partner at McKinsey in New York and Stockholm (2013–2021). She served as Chief Technology Officer at H2 Green Steel from 2020 to 2025 and has been a board member of the Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE). Since the fall of 2022, she has also been a member of the Sweden-America Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.
Anna Rosvall Stuart, Executive Director
Committees for Augustana College and The Lawrenceville School
Augustana College
Dag Blanck
Anna Rosvall Stuart
Helena Törnqvist
The Lawrenceville School
Frances Broman
Linn Edström Larsson
Anna Rosvall Stuart
Staff
The Sweden-America Foundation’s office is located in central Stockholm.
Anna Rosvall Stuart, Executive Director
Hilda Blomqvist, Executive Assistant and Administrator
