between 2009 and 2015.
Hans Jørgen Marker, former SND Director, passed away on Friday, 6 November, 2020, after a period of illness.
When Hans Jørgen Marker took office as SND Director in 2009, he brought 25 years of experience from our Danish sister organisation, DDA. He was highly competent in the practices of using and preserving data, as well as an experienced leader.
In 2008, Swedish Social Science Data Service (SSD) had been reorganised into Swedish National Data Service (SND), and given a broader mission. During Hans Jørgen’s leadership, the Humanities and Health Sciences were included in the SND research data areas, and the number of staff increased fourfold.
Hans Jørgen had an impressive international network, which meant that global development came to have a large influence on the SND activities. New initiatives such as DataCite and Research Data Alliance (RDA) were quickly included in SND’s work. Hans Jørgen was also dedicated to the development of the European research infrastructure CESSDA, where he became President in 2010. His involvement made SND a hub for the discussions about whether CESSDA should become an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium). Hans Jørgen also acted as coordinator for the cluster project DASISH 2012–2014.
Hans Jørgen left SND when he retired in spring 2015, but the legacy of his knowledge and enthusiasm for the work with research data still lives on in the work we do in SND.