The Council Assembly 

Per-Espen Magnussen is Director and Head of Employer Relations at Gjensidige. He is well acquainted with Kristiania through his previous roles as a member and Chair of the Council Assembly, as well as a Board member. He also serves as deputy member of the Board of Kristiania Professional College. Magnussen assumed the role of Chair of the Council Assembly on 1 August 2026. 

Hilde Lorentzen is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), OsloMet. She has 12 years of research experience and 23 years of leadership experience at various research institutes, including 11 years as Director of NIBR.  

Lorentzen has served as an external representative on the Council Assembly since 2021. 

Liza Reisel is a Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research. Her research focuses on educational inequality and transitions into working life, gendered educational choices and labor market returns to education. She is a member of the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research (Kif) and previously served on the Men's Equality Commission. 

Reisel has served as an external representative on the Council Assembly since 2023. 

Karianne Bjellås Gilje is CEO of the Association of Norwegian Foundations/Stiftelsesforeningen. She previously served as Dean of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, CEO of the Bergesen Foundation, and Editor at Universitetsforlaget and the journal Prosa. Bjellås Gilje holds a Cand.Philol. degree from the University of Oslo and has extensive experience from board and leadership positions within academia, the cultural sector, and the foundation sector.  

 Bjellås Gilje has served as an external representative on the Council Assembly since 2025. 

Rune Bjerkås is Director of Administration at the National Museum of Norway. He has extensive leadership experience from the cultural sector, the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ), the Norwegian Armed Forces, and Deloitte, with particular expertise in strategy, organisational management, and the development of knowledge organisations. 

Bjerkås joined the Council Assembly as an external representative on 1 August 2026. 

Andreas Norgår Thon is Associate Professor at the Department of Leadership and Innovation. He graduated from the Norwegian Military Academy and holds a Master of Arts from the University of Hertfordshire. Thon has 20 years of experience from both the public and private sectors, specialising in HR, leadership, and international affairs. 

He serves as the academic staff representative on the Council Assembly. 

Line Edelmann has worked at Kristiania for more than ten years and currently serves as Director of Unit for Strategy and Governance.  

She has been the administrative staff representative on the Council Assembly since 2023. 

Trond Klevgaard is a researcher and Associate Professor of Design History at Kristiania. He holds a PhD in Design History from the Royal College of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He currently leads Kristiania’s Design Research Working Group. 

Klevgaard has served as an academic staff representative on the Council Assembly since 2025.