Prof. Sunniva Whittaker is professor of French language and has held academic leadership positions for the last 17 years, as head of department and deputy rector at the Norwegian School of Economics and as dean at the University of Agder. Prof. Whittaker is currently the rector at the University of Agder. She has lived in several countries in addition to Norway: Canada, France and the Soviet Union. Her current research interests are language management and multilingualism.