Text and Photo: Nelly Sander, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

If you see a woman running 18 km around Brabrandsøen and Årslev Engsø, it could easily be AAU professor Lene Tanggaard training for this year's half marathon in Berlin. If she's not doing her Monday workout or Thursday TRX, winter swimming, reading books – or crawling around on all fours weeding her large garden that was close to a hostile takeover by wild blackberries.

Lene Tanggaard is married to Kåre, a senior Air Force chaplain, and it goes without saying that she is a high-flyer herself. Both personally and professionally.

From AAU to Design School and back again

There are many places to look if you want to talk about Lene Tanggaard's work. First and foremost, she is a professor and researcher in Pedagogical and Educational Psychology at AAU. She is a trusted advisor to both the Danish and Norwegian authorities, has written over 50 books and is on a large number of prestigious councils (see fact box for a selection of them). 

In 2019, she was headhunted for the position of rector of Kolding School of Design, and it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

"I have written management books, and I have taught in our professional master's programme in leadership psychology that I developed myself. So, it was interesting for me to see if I could practice what I preach," she explains.

The task was clear: She was to lead a comprehensive transformation of the school, and under her leadership, funds were secured for the modernization of the school's buildings, research was significantly strengthened and graduate unemployment was reduced. 

She never let go of research and continued as a part-time professor while she was rector, and in March 2025, when she had met the goals set by the board, she chose to return to Aalborg University full time. 

The researcher is always on

Lene Tanggaard loves her busy life and feels she is also good at relaxing. However, she doesn’t leave her researcher identity behind when she closes the door to the office and drives home to Aarhus. Things often blend together, and that suits her just fine.

"I can certainly stop doing something. But I can't quite control my thoughts if I read something in the newspaper, or when I'm sitting and talking to good friends and we often start talking about something related to my field, but I just think it's fun," she says.

Psychology by chance

Actually, it was a bit of a coincidence that Lene Tanggaard started studying psychology. She had considered medicine, midwifery and political science. But at Vejle Sports School, she met a psychology teacher who sparked her interest in the subject, and then she imagined becoming a sports psychologist. 

She was accepted to the psychology programme at Aarhus University, and an elective course that she enrolled in somewhat by chance, Pedagogy and Postmodernism, became quite crucial for her future. 

"There I met Professor Steinar Kvale. And that was a formative experience for me. Because he really opened up the world. He invited researchers from all over the world to Aarhus, and they lectured to us. And he encouraged me and my fellow students to think. I was just totally hooked."

Pioneer at Aalborg University

It was the same Steinar Kvale who introduced Lene Tanggaard to the idea that she should apply for a PhD stipend advertised in Aalborg. This is how Lene became the first – and at the time only – PhD student in psychology at AUC, which was a very positive experience for her:

"There was such a good atmosphere and I was listened to. If I got an idea and went to my managers, they almost always said yes, or were curious and investigating whether you could do this or that. The fact that I was the only PhD student in psychology at the time also gave me a somewhat privileged position, because I attended the teachers' meetings as an equal participant," she recalls.

Not quite as old as Putin

In 2008, at the age of 34, Lene Tanggaard became Denmark's youngest female professor, and she still feels young.

"I still consider myself quite young. It probably won't last. It's not like Putin hoping to live to be 150 years old," she says. 

In October, Lene Tanggaard will celebrate her 25th anniversary at Aalborg University. In the meantime, she is looking forward to getting started on the PRAXIS project that she just received a million kroner grant for from the Tuborg Foundation. Here she will follow the development of Gejst, a teaching laboratory at Copenhagen Hospitality College where students work practically and creatively. 

"Knowledge comes alive when it is connected to the senses and the concrete. We simply learn better when we work with something real and can test it in practice," she says.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs