Ex-Envoy Ends Term in Cal Lutheran Post

Sweden’s former ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is wrapping up her tenure as the first diplomat-in-residence at Cal Lutheran University.

Margareta Hegardt, a native of Goteborg, Sweden, said she has relished meeting students and members of the business community since arriving on campus in January.

“It’s been very stimulating,” she said. “I appreciate the chance to come here.”

Hegardt, who was ambassador to Ireland from 1989-93, received an honorary doctor of law degree from Cal Lutheran in 1989. She has ties to the campus from her days as Sweden’s consul general to the western United States, when she was based in Los Angeles from 1982-89. Part of her foreign service career included a stint as Sweden’s consul general to Germany.

Her residency at Cal Lutheran is technically over Sunday, but she will not leave for Sweden until March 23.

While at Cal Lutheran, Hegardt gave lectures in business, political science, international relations and foreign language classes. She also speaks Norwegian and Danish, and has studied in German and French.

The school hopes to have at least one former diplomat visit and lecture each year, spokeswoman Lynda Paige Fulford said.