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Monday, September 15, 2025

Celebrating the Minnesota-Uppsala Exchange Program

itle page of commemorative Uppsala Law Faculty publication titled More than 40 years of Minnesota Memories. Text is in English and Swedish.
More than forty years ago, in 1982, the University of Minnesota Law School and Uppsala University's Faculty of Law began an international exchange program that continues to this day. The program represents a rich tradition of faculty and student exchange, travel and friendship that continues to connect hundreds of present and former participants across the globe.

The Minnesota-Uppsala exchange program is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. It was first proposed as the result of a visit to Minnesota by John Eric Wickstrom, Sweden’s former Minister of Education, in late 1980. Minnesota Law School Dean Robert Stein and Uppsala Faculty of Law Dean Anders Agell discussed the proposed exchange program in 1981. Their plan was finalized in 1982 and included the exchange of faculty, students and library resources between the two schools. Uppsala Professor Stig Strömholm, a towering figure in Swedish academia, served as the first faculty member to participate in the exchange, in the fall semester of 1982. This marked a grand beginning for the program, which has sent countless students and faculty between the two schools since that time.      

This week Minneapolis and Uppsala, Sweden, will proudly celebrate the 25th anniversary of their “sister city” relationship, a fruitful partnership that brings a delegation of distinguished visitors from Uppsala to Minneapolis for a series of events.

As part of the visit and celebrations, the University of Minnesota Law School and the Uppala University Faculty of Law will honor the long history of the exchange program between the two schools with the launch, on September 15, 2025, of a new commemorative volume of De lege, the Uppsala Law Faculty’s annual scholarly publication. The new volume features a terrific collection of reflections by faculty and students who participated in the exchange program since its inception in 1982.  

As a companion to the September 15 launch and celebration of the Minnesota-Uppsala exchange program, the Riesenfeld Center has contributed a display, which can be seen in the Law School foyer, drawn from the De lege volume and showcasing images of exchange program events and participants through the years.  


   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections


Laura and Ben Cooper, framed by note from Jan Darpö, with a positive memory of Laura and Ben hosting in 2008.


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