In remembrance of Ole Prehn

Late Secretary General of IAMCR, 2000-2009.

IAMCR  Congress
Mexico City, July 21-24, 2009
The Opening Ceremony

The 25th of November 2009 Ole Prehn, Secretary General of IAMCR since 2000, passed away. A few days before Ole had a stroke, and he did not regain consciousness. A few months before, at the IAMCR Congress in Stockholm, Ole was re-elected Secretary General of IAMCR for the 3rd time – and as such Ole has been - in charge of organizing the annual conferences in close cooperation with the President of IAMCR and the local organizers.  Thus - over the years - Ole created a large network of close colleagues and friends, and I am sure he will be missed and remembered in our organisation by all who knew him.

Ole left us only 56 years of age. He was born in Northern Denmark, and got his degree at Aarhus University in Nordic Languages and Literature in the mid seventies, where both of us studied. Shortly after graduation he was appointed research fellow in media, communication and technology studies at the newly established Aalborg University in Northern Denmark. He became associate professor in the mid eighties in media and communication studies, and in 1990 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of the humanities, a position he held for 19 years – until his death. Before – but certainly also during this long period - Ole was very active as a researcher, and his main field of interest was local and community radio and television.

I had the privilege to work closely together with Ole for more than 25 years, where we shared a common interest in connecting the analytical, empirical analyses of community media with the people involved: local activists, NGO’s, civic organisations – and not to forget: politicians and regulators, whom we tried to enlighten and influence the best we could.  Over the years we co-authored a number of books, analytical reports for the ministries of media and culture in Denmark and Sweden, journal articles etc, both nationally and in the Nordic and wider international communities, not least in IAMCR – based in the working group of Local Radio and Television, later on the Section for Community Communication, where Ole served as Vice-Section Head over a long period in the eighties and nineties.

Through this companionship in research we also developed a strong, personal friendship. But all of you, who knew Ole as a person will also agree, that Ole was a somewhat shy and private person. He did not expose his feelings or his private life. He kept his disappointments and hardships to himself, but he would certainly share his enjoyments – especially connected to his house in Spain, where he liked to spend holidays with his wife, Jytte. And looking ahead he often told me that an early retirement to the house in Spain was not an unrealistic vision for him and his wife.

In his personal and professional life Ole had a far-reaching social repertoire. He liked both the festive and to some extent also the formal events, but faithful to his roots in Northern Denmark he was most of all a down to earth man – who liked direct, honest and frank conversations, often with an ironic twist.

In Danish, Nordic and international research communities and organisations Ole’s work has had a great impact. I will not go trough the long list of positions Ole had during his career, but just mention here, that the Nordic IAMCR community was especially proud of the commitment Ole performed during his years as Secretary General of our organisation, and he will be sadly missed.

I have promised Ole’s wife, Jytte Smedegaard Andersen, to bring her regards at this opening ceremony, to Ole’s friends and colleagues in IAMCR:

I, Jytte Smedegaard, Ole Prehn´s wife for 34 years, sincerely want to thank you for all the kind condolences conveyed to me from all over the world through the IAMCR.

It is a great consolation to me to know that Ole´s work in the IAMCR was highly appreciated by members and colleagues.

All honour to his memory.

Finally, I will ask you to stand up and observe one minute of silence in the memory of Ole Prehn.

Thank you.

Per Jauert
Associate Professor
Department of Information and Media Studies
Aarhus University, Denmark
Head, Community Communication Section, IAMCR.