This year's Chalmers medals are awarded to Peter Alehammar and Madeleine Olsson Eriksson. The recipients are rewarded for their great commitment to Chalmers students and alumni, and for many years of support for science and culture.
Peter Alehammar
Peter Alehammar is Managing Director of Chalmers Student Union. He graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1982, and while studying he was Vice Chairman of the Student Union. After a time in business, he returned to Chalmers and the alumni and marketing contacts department, where he built up Chalmers alumni network and worked on the formation of the US Friends of Chalmers Foundation. Peter Alehammar also played an important role in Chalmers’ and the Swedish higher education world’s first fundraising campaign, which gave over SEK 300 million to the redevelopment of the Student Union building.
He was then appointed Managing Director of the Chalmers Student Union and its corporate group, which he has since built up to Sweden's largest business for the benefit of students. During his time at Kåren he has ensured a stable financial situation and, with his extensive knowledge of the University, has provided an important continuity in cooperation between the Student Union and the University.
Madeleine Olsson Eriksson
Madeleine Olsson Eriksson is a Doctor and Chair of the Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture. After medical studies at Karolinska Institutet, she received her medical certificate in 1981, and has been running Avenykliniken in Gothenburg since the 1990s. Madeleine Olsson Eriksson is also a part-owner of Mitt liv (My Life), which works with integration issues and for everyone's right to work. Since 2007, she has been an honorary doctor at the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at the University of Gothenburg for her philanthropic commitment.
The Sten A Olsson Foundation aims to promote science and culture and has supported Chalmers in several areas, including a large donation that formed the basis of the Chalmers Innovation foundation and what is today the Stena Center. It has also contributed to the Stena Industry Innovation Laboratory (SII-Lab) – Chalmers’ open test bed for digital industrial production. The donations have also been used for student travel grants and to support the experimental workshop Physical Toys.
The Chalmers Medals were awarded at the promotional ceremony on 6 June.