UW Celebrates 20 Years
The University Centre of the Westfjords (UW) turns 20 years old this year. Twenty years ago, the people in the Westfjords were fighting for many things: paved roads, tunnels, mobile phone service, coastal fishing and shipping, safety, electricity at Christmas, and, yes, a university. No more, no less.
It was on March 12, 2005, that 42 founding members gathered at the inaugural meeting and established UW, the non-profit organization, with the noble goal of creating a university here. The founding members included research institutions operating in the region, public entities, companies, and associations from the area, as well as all the universities in the country, nine in total at that time. Why not ten, and why not one of them in the Westfjords?
Since then, much has changed, and although UW has not become a full-fledged university with a capital U, it has become an active link in Iceland's higher education landscape and a beacon for learning outside the capital area. Today, there are nearly 80 students regularly enrolled in programs at the University of Akureyri through UW. Year-round, there are approximately 80 students living in the Westfjords connected to UW’s programs. About 15 full-time equivalent positions have been created due to the UW’s activities, not only staff positions on the payroll but also jobs linked to partnerships with other institutions, adjunct faculty, and those invaluable roles created solely because of the UW’s existence — such as staff from partner universities abroad, doctoral candidates who choose to work here, or a researcher from the Stefansson Arctic Institute.
It has been decided to hold UW’s annual meeting on March 14, 2025, to commemorate the official founding date and honor all those who fought tirelessly to establish an academic institution in the Westfjords, despite widespread skepticism, especially from the south. In connection with the annual meeting and the founding date, there will be an open house at the UW building and an anniversary celebration. As always, the graduation ceremony will take place on the Icelandic national holiday, June 17th, and there will likely be more occasions to celebrate this anniversary year.
Much constructive and enjoyable work has been done over these 20 years, which we will attempt to capture in pictures and texts during the year. If there are guest writers out there, we encourage them to come forward, and likewise, anyone with interesting stories from UW’s history that could be published on our webpage and elsewhere.
