Board of directors

Nordic Semiconductor

Birger Steen

Birger Steen - Shareholder elected and Chair

Board Chair since 2018 and board member since 2017
Birger Steen is the CEO of Freyr Battery, a NYSE-listed technology company focused on large-scale eco-friendly battery solutions to combat global emissions. His 30 years of leadership and board experience in the tech sector includes roles such as CEO of Parallels, Inc. (2010-2016), Vice President at Microsoft Corp. (2002-2010), Thematic Partner at Summa Equity AB (2019-2023), CEO of Scandinavia Online AB (2000-2002), VP at Schibsted ASA (1997-2000) and consultant at McKinsey & Company (1993-1997). He holds an MSc from the Norwegian Institute of Technology, an MBA from INSEAD and is a graduate of the Defense School of Intelligence in Oslo. He has previously held director positions at Pagero AB, Nordea Bank Abp, Schibsted ASA, Cognite AS, and PragmatIC Semiconductor Ltd.

Current holdings in the company: 218 745 shares.

Inger Berg Ørstavik

Inger Berg Ørstavik - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2017
Inger Berg Ørstavik is a professor at the Department of Private Law, University of Oslo. She has previously been a partner at the law firm Schjødt AS and a lawyer at the office of the Attorney General for Civil Affairs. Mrs. Ørstavik has a law degree from the University of Oslo, a Ll.M. from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg, Germany, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oslo in the areas of intellectual property law and competition law. She has taught international human rights law at Fudan University in Shanghai, China where she resided from 2005 to 2009. Mrs. Ørstavik has previously served as a Non-Executive Director of REC Silicon ASA. 

Current holdings in the company: 6 519 shares.

Anita Huun

Anita Huun - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2019
Anita Huun is an experienced business executive and the current Commercial Director for Techstep, former CFO for Techstep.  Huun has more than 20 years of experience in finance, capital markets and management. Prior to joining Techstep, Huun served as the CFO of Cappelen Damm, a Norwegian publishing company and CFO for Microsoft Norway. Huun's capital market experience comes from her years as an equity analyst, covering the Norwegian IT sector, for Handelsbanken Capital Markets. Furthermore, Huun has board experience from Link Mobility until it was acquired by Abry partners. She has a MSc from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), with specialization in Finance.

Current holdings in the company: 13 919 shares.

Snorre Kjesbu

Snorre Kjesbu - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2023
Snorre Kjesbu is currently Senior Vice President & General Manager of Cisco Collaboration Devices. He is a global citizen leading a worldwide organization responsible for the collaboration devices business ranging from IP phones to immersive video systems. Prior to his return to Cisco, Kjesbu was Executive VP of Design, Creation and Fulfillment at BANG & OLUFSEN in Copenhagen. His résumé also includes SVP at Tandberg and being responsible for R&D on wireless communication at ABB. Kjesbu holds a Master of Science from the University of Bristol and has been a guest lecturer at the Stanford Network Research Center in Stanford University.

Current holdings in the company: 661 shares.

Annastiina Hinsta

Annastiina Hintsa - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2019
Annastiina Hintsa is the CEO of Hintsa Performance in Finland, a company focusing on enhancing the performance and leadership of client companies, best known for working with Formula 1 teams. Ms. Hintsa also has experience from McKinsey & Co. and from the Bank of Finland.

Current holdings in the company: 4 919 shares.

Dieter May

Dieter May - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2024
Dieter May is a German business executive with more than 30 years' experience in high-tech industries, spanning mobile products, large-scale cloud-based consumer services, semiconductor technology. He is currently a non-executive board member at Isorg and non-executive director at Nanoco Technologies, Ltd. His 30 years of leadership and board experience in the tech sector includes roles as Chairman of the Board and CEO at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, SVP Digital Products and Services at BMW Group, SVP Mobile Phone Services at Nokia, and VP & GM Discrete Semiconductors at Infineon Technologies. He holds a Master of Electrical Engineering from FAU ErlangenNürnberg.

Current holdings in the company: 4 000 shares.

Helmut Gassel

Helmut Gassel - Shareholder elected

Board member since 2024
Helmut Gassel is a seasoned and experienced semiconductor executive with more than 30 years in the industry. He is currently Co-founder & Partner at Silian Partners SA. He held several leadership positions during his 27 year tenure at Infineon Technologies, including Board Member, Chief Marketing Officer - Member of the Management Board, Division President. Mr. Gassel received his degree as Dr.-Ing. Electrical Engineering at University of Duisburg-Essen and Diploma in physics from Ruhr University Bochum. 

Current holdings in the company: 0 shares.

Anja Dekens

Anja Dekens - Employee elected

Board member since 2022
Anja Dekens joined Nordic in 2014 and has been working with HW design in IC development since then. Besides her position as an engineer, she is also leading the Digital Design Discipline team which is responsible for the methodology used by all digital designers at Nordic. Anja studied Electrical Engineering in Karlsruhe University, Germany and at NTNU, Trondheim and has a PhD degree from the University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Current holdings in the company: 433 shares and 275 RSUs.

Jon Helge Nistad

Jon Helge Nistad - Employee elected

Board member since 2017
Jon Helge Nistad has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from NTNU in Trondheim. Jon Helge has been employed in Nordic Semiconductor since 2006, where he has gained experience in application development, embedded software design and project management. He is currently working as a Senior R&D engineer in Nordic Semiconductor.

Current holdings in the company: 749 shares and 418 RSUs.

Morten Dammen

Morten Dammen - Employee elected

Board member since 2019
Morten Dammen has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from NTNU in Trondheim. Morten has been employed in Nordic Semiconductor since 2001, with a seven-year break between 2007 and 2014. Morten is currently working as a Senior Project Manager in IC development. Morten has also been working in Q-Free ASA for 10 years, in several positions from project management, team management to VP R&D.

Current holdings in the company: 1 953 shares and 1 108 RSUs.