Benedikt Hoskuldsson ’83

Benedikt was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. He learned about Lewis & Clark College through his wife, Hjordis Magnusdottir BA ’83, who lived for a year in Salem, Oregon, as an AFS exchange student.

Arriving on campus as an international student was a major adjustment for Benedikt. Luckily the economics faculty and staff at L&C became like a family to him. After graduating, Benedikt and Hjordis returned to Reykjavik where he got a job in the U.S. Embassy. After a year, they returned to Portland for their master’s degrees at Portland State University.

After earning his master’s degree in economics and international business, Benedikt worked as a mutual fund manager for a financial company in Reykjavik. In 1991, he became the trade representative for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland for Europe and led the first embassy subsidiary in Berlin after the reunification of West and East Germany.

Benedikt has held several positions within the ministry: director of Overseas Business Services; director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; deputy head of mission in Tokyo, Japan; and senior advisor to former president of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

In 2015, Benedikt cochaired the committee negotiating the Paris Agreement on behalf of Iceland and has been active in progressing the work. In 2016, Benedikt began working for Sustainable Energy for All, a U.N. agency in Vienna.

Benedikt returned to the ministry in 2022, and he is now the special envoy on climate for the government of Iceland and permanent representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency. He is also board chair of the Nordic Development Fund and an alternative board member of the Green Climate Fund.

Lewis & Clark played an integral part in preparing Benedikt for his career in climate and development issues in the international arena. He has kept in close contact with the college, regularly visiting campus and hosting two events with his wife for alumni, one in Tokyo and the other in Reykjavik.

Benedikt and Hjordis have been married since 1981 and have three children and five grandchildren.