Abstract
The port town of Gävle, which during the years following the end of World War II had once been assigned staple privileges for the northern part of Sweden, epitomizes the meeting between the academy and industry. Of course, at that time, the imposing caserns at Kungsbäck, on the western fringe of the town, had not yet been transformed into a regional university but rather still housed the 14th infantry regiment. My academy was the “Public Higher Institution of Learning.” The school building had a flight of curved steps leading down to the “Rådhus esplanade” (town hall esplanade) that stretched down from the theater built in a classical style in the north to the well-proportioned magistrates building by the river in the south. Not that we were allowed to enter the school by the main entrance at that time; we had to use the back doors from the schoolyard. However, after 8 years of study, the main door would open for the pupils who had passed the scrutiny of the censors so that they could descend the steps, shining white caps on their heads (as a token of having passed the “student exam”), to family and friends who awaited them in the crowd assembled among the abundance of spring flowers by the esplanade's sparkling fountains. For some, the wait was somewhat anxious because a few of the pupils, even on that joyous day, would have to leave bare-headed by the back door.