Board
The board of VELUX FOUNDATION is self-elective and aims for a composition where members have broad insight into the areas supported by the foundations.
A member must be a descendant of the foundation’s founder, Villum Kann Rasmussen.
The board’s responsibilities
The board is responsible for the foundation’s strategy and makes final decisions on all distribution matters and other issues of significance for the foundation, such as policies asset management and governance policies. This happens at board meetings approximately every two months.
In addition to board meetings, board members participate in an annual strategy day, and the chair also participates in preliminary meetings etc.
Election to the board
According to the Trust Deed, all board members must be ’competent, reputable, trustworthy and mature individuals, half of whom must be residents of Denmark.’
Board members can serve a maximum of 10 years (descendants of Villum Kann Rasmussen, however, can serve up to 15 years), the age limit is 75 years, and one board member is up for election each year in a predetermined order. A new board member enters into the same position as their predecessor.
An observer, who must be a descendant of the founder, can be elected. The observer attends the meetings, but does not have voting rights.
Chair
(Born 1975)
Journalist
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 5 May 2020. Appointed as chair on 11 May 2021. Re-elected to the board in 2022. Up for re-election in 2027. Can remain a board member until 2030 (after 10 years of serving), with the possibility of extension until 2035.
Member of the Investment Committee for VELUX FOUNDATION and Villum Foundation.
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Descendant of the founder Villum Kann Rasmussen (grandchild). Commercial and financial insight.
Considered independent: Yes
Other boards, etc.:
- Mermaid Asset Management Fondsmæglerselskab A/S – board member elected in 2023
- Kwera Fund (Malawi) – board member elected in 2020
- VELUX Stiftung – Chair and chair of Investment Committee from 2017
- ADDEK Aps – board member since 2008 and vice-chair since 2017
Board member
(Born 1953)
Professor, lic.phil.
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 11 May 2021. Re-elected in 2023. Can be a board member until 2029 (in the year turning 75).
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Cultural-pedagogical insight, humanities and interdisciplinarity..
Considered independent: Yes.
Other boards, etc.:
- Odense Katedralskole, chair
- The Danish Academy, member
- The Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, Gothenburg, member of the board
- The Danish Society for 18th Century Studies, member of the board
- Academia Europaea, member
- D:IAS, SDU, chair
- The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, member of the board
Awards:
- Carlsberg Foundation Research Prize
- Blixens Ærespris
- Dissemination award from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science
- SDU Research Dissemination Award
- SDU’s Innovation Prize
- Fyens Stiftstidende’s Research Award
- The Danish Arts Foundation’s life-long honorary grant
Deputy chair
(Born 1953)
Surgeon general, specialist in orthopaedic surgery, former head of the Armed Forces Health Services and head of department at Rigshospitalet.
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 19 June 2018. Re-elected in 2022. Appointed as deputy chair on March 5, 2024. Up for re-election in 2027. Erik Michael Darre can be a board member until 2028.
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Business, economic and cultural-pedagogical insight
Considered independent: Yes
Other boards, etc.:
- Støtteselskabet for Militær-Medicinsk Samling, chair
- Danish Medical Societies, member of the advisory boardDansk Idrætsmedicinsk Selskab (Danish society of sports medicine), member of the advisory board
Awards:
- World Veterans Federation Rehabilitation Prize, 2012
- Danmarks Idræts-Forbunds Ærestegn, 2013
Board member
(Born 1970)
Professor, (MA)
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 16 June 2015. Re-elected in 2016 and 2021. Can be a board member until 2025.
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Business, economic and cultural-pedagogical insight
Considered independent: Yes
Other boards, etc.:
- The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2020-2024, president
- Niels Bohr Foundation, board member
- J.P. Suhr & Søns legat til erindring om professor, DR. MED. & PHIL. Julius Thomsen, board member
- H. P. Hjerl Hansens Mindefondet for Palæstinaforskning, board member
- Professor Ludvig Wimmer og Hustrus Legat til fremme af videnskabelige, særlig historiske og sproglige studier ved Københavns Universitet (grant for promoting science, history and linguistic studies), board member
- Elisabeth Munksgaard Fonden, board member
- C.L. Davids Fond og Samling, board member
- The Danish Institute in Damascus, board member
- Fonden ADBC, board member
- Selskabet til Udgivelse af danske Mindesmærker (society for the publication of Danish cultural monuments), member
Board member
(Born 1953)
Stategic Director, journalist
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 5 March 2024. Can be a board member until 2029 (in the year turning 75).
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Business, economic and cultural-pedagogical insight
Considered independent: Not independent
Other boards, etc.:
- NIRAS Group, chair
- Den selvejende institution Odense Symfoniorkester, chair
- ENIGMA – Museum for post, tele og kommunikation, chair
- Rønnow Leth & Gori, chair
- Foreningen TjekDet, chair
- Illum-Fondet, member of the board
- Demokratikommissionen, chair
Board member
(Born 1961)
Cand.scient. and writer
Elected to the board at the annual meeting on 5 March 2024. Can be a board member until 2034.
Special competencies under the Trust Deed: Business, economic and cultural-pedagogical insight
Considered independent: Yes
Other boards, etc.:
- Rådet for Zoologiske Anlæg, Kulturministeriet, deputy chair
Awards:
- National Outdoor Book Award (winnner)
- Københavns Universitets Naturvidenskabelige Fakultets Formidlingspris
Fees
The foundation’s board members receive a fixed fee of DKK 190,000 per year. The chair’s fee is DKK 380,000 per year, and the vice-chair’s is DKK 285,000 per year. Observers receive DKK 95,000 per year.
Board members receive fees for tasks as members of the foundation’s investment committee or other committees that support the foundation’s work.