Gad Rausing
Encyclopedia
Dr. Gad Rausing was a notable Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans
he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak
(later Tetra Laval
), founded by their father Ruben Rausing
and currently the largest food packaging
company in the world. In 1995 Rausing bought his brother's part of the company in what was at the time called the most extensive private buyout ever in Europe.
Gad Rausing had a life-long passion for archaeology and the humanities and was an accomplished scholar, earning his Ph. D. from the University of Lund in 1967 with a dissertation on Scandinavian pre-historic bows and arrow-heads. In addition to his work as Deputy Managing Director at Tetra Pak
he was a frequent lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University
and the author of several books.
, in 1922 as the eldest son of industrialist Ruben Rausing
and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). He had two younger brothers, Hans
and Sven.
package. The tetrahedron
subsequently became the key product for Tetra Pak
, which was founded in 1951 as a subsidiary to Åkerlund & Rausing.
Rausing joined Tetra Pak
as Deputy Managing Director in 1954. Over the years the company evolved from a small family business with six full-time employees, in 1954, into a multi-national corporation with over 20,000 employees (2011), a development much of which has been credited to the leadership of Rausing and his brother throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The enormous success of the business was in large part due to the revolutionary aseptic packaging technology
, developed in the 1950s and early 1960s and later called the most important food packaging innovation of the 20th century.
Rausing had a parallel career as a scholar in pre-historic Scandinavian archaeology and was a Reader at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University
. Asked how he could uphold a position in senior management of a global corporation and do archaeological research at the same time, he stated "a fair number of left-over hours in airports and planes" as his key to finding the time.
trading town of Birka
outside Stockholm
. Rausing’s foundation, The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation, awards grants to research within the humanities and supports several important institutions, among others the Lund
and Oxford universities.
In 2002, the Gad Rausing Prize for Outstanding Humanistic Research was instituted by Rausing’s three children in memory of their father at the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
, where Gad Rausing was a member during his lifetime.
Rausing became Doctor Honoris Causa at the Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm in 1983.
and had three children, Finn, Jörn and Kirsten
.
Hans Rausing
Hans Rausing, KBE, is a Swedish businessman based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak , a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
(later Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval is a private multinational corporation of Swedish origin, owned by the Rausing family. In the 1980s Tetra Laval relocated its headquarters to Lausanne, Switzerland....
), founded by their father Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing was the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak. He was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1895. On his death Ruben Rausing was Sweden's richest person.-Early life:...
and currently the largest food packaging
Food packaging
Food packaging is packaging for food. It requires protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or biological needs. It also shows the product that is labeled to show any nutrition information on the food being consumed....
company in the world. In 1995 Rausing bought his brother's part of the company in what was at the time called the most extensive private buyout ever in Europe.
Gad Rausing had a life-long passion for archaeology and the humanities and was an accomplished scholar, earning his Ph. D. from the University of Lund in 1967 with a dissertation on Scandinavian pre-historic bows and arrow-heads. In addition to his work as Deputy Managing Director at Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
he was a frequent lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
and the author of several books.
Early life
Rausing was born in Bromma, outside of StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, in 1922 as the eldest son of industrialist Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing was the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak. He was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1895. On his death Ruben Rausing was Sweden's richest person.-Early life:...
and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). He had two younger brothers, Hans
Hans Rausing
Hans Rausing, KBE, is a Swedish businessman based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak , a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
and Sven.
Career
Rausing studied chemistry at the University of Lund and started his career as head of the research laboratory at his father's company Åkerlund & Rausing, where he was in charge of the team developing suitable materials for the newly invented tetrahedronTetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
package. The tetrahedron
Tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
subsequently became the key product for Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
, which was founded in 1951 as a subsidiary to Åkerlund & Rausing.
Rausing joined Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
as Deputy Managing Director in 1954. Over the years the company evolved from a small family business with six full-time employees, in 1954, into a multi-national corporation with over 20,000 employees (2011), a development much of which has been credited to the leadership of Rausing and his brother throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The enormous success of the business was in large part due to the revolutionary aseptic packaging technology
Aseptic processing
Aseptic processing is the process by which a sterile product is packaged in a sterile container in a way that maintains sterility...
, developed in the 1950s and early 1960s and later called the most important food packaging innovation of the 20th century.
Rausing had a parallel career as a scholar in pre-historic Scandinavian archaeology and was a Reader at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
. Asked how he could uphold a position in senior management of a global corporation and do archaeological research at the same time, he stated "a fair number of left-over hours in airports and planes" as his key to finding the time.
Patronage
Rausing’s passion for the humanities led to his frequent sponsoring of various research projects, among others the excavation of the 10th Century VikingViking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
trading town of Birka
Birka
During the Viking Age, Birka , on the island of Björkö in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö...
outside Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Rausing’s foundation, The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation, awards grants to research within the humanities and supports several important institutions, among others the Lund
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
and Oxford universities.
In 2002, the Gad Rausing Prize for Outstanding Humanistic Research was instituted by Rausing’s three children in memory of their father at the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters, abbreviated KVHAA is the Swedish royal academy for the Humanities.Its many publications include the archaeological and art historical journal Fornvännen, published since 1906.The Academy...
, where Gad Rausing was a member during his lifetime.
Rausing became Doctor Honoris Causa at the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
in Stockholm in 1983.
Personal life
Gad Rausing was married to Birgit RausingBirgit Rausing
Birgit Rausing is a Swedish art historian and philanthropist, and the widow of Gad Rausing .In 1944 her father-in-law Ruben Rausing founded Tetra Pak, which revolutionized the packaging of liquids such as juices and milk. The company was inherited by his sons Gad and Hans. In 1996, Gad bought...
and had three children, Finn, Jörn and Kirsten
Kirsten Rausing
Kirsten Rausing is the eldest child of Swedish industrialist Gad Rausing and his wife Birgit . She is the grand-daughter of Ruben Rausing who was the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak...
.
Selected bibliography
- Rausing, Gad, China and Europe: some notes on communications in early times, Lund: Tetra Pak International, 1996
- Rausing, Gad, Prehistoric boats and ships of northwestern Europe: some reflections, Malmö: Liber Förlag/Gleerup, 1984
- Rausing, Gad, Ecology, economy and man, Malmö: Liber Läromedel/Gleerup, 1981
- Rausing, Gad, The bow: some notes on its origin and development, Lund: Gleerups, 1967
- Rausing, Gad, Lars Lawskis vapensamling, Norrköping: Norrköpings museum, 1960