Ragnar Stefánsson

From 1980 he led the development of monitoring systems and research aiming to provide advance warnings of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. He led four international projects in the field of earthquake prediction research from 1988 to 2006. In his 2011 book Advances in Earthquake prediction, Research and Risk Mitigation, Ragnar summarized the main conclusions of his and colleagues research during these 20 years as well as his experience in predicting and warnings ahead of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Ragnar was chairman of the Fylkingin (a socialist campaign league) during most of 1966–1984. After moving from Reykjavík to Svarfadardalur in north Iceland he and other locals founded in 2002 the Framfarafélags Dalvíkurbyggðar (Dalvik progressive association) where in 2015 Ragnar is still the chairman. During 2003 – 2008 he was also the chairman of the organization Landsbyggðin lifi (Icelandic rural community association), where he is still an active member. He was among the founders of the Icelandic political party VG, Vinstri hreyfingin grænt framboð (Left green party) in 1999, and is a member of its party council.

From 1962 to 1963 and from 1966 to 2003 he was the head of the Geophysics Department of the Icelandic Meteorological Office and in 2004 and 2005 he was the head of its Research Department at the University of Akureyri. In 2005 he was appointed research professor at that University, where he later became Professor Emeritus.

Ragnar was born in Reykjavík, the son of Rósa Kristjánsdóttir and Stefán Bjarnason. He completed his Fil.kand exam (B.Sc.) in mathematics and physics from Uppsala University 1961, and Fil. kand in geophysics 1962, and Fil.lic (comparable to Ph.D) in seismology 1966.

He married Astrid Malmström, a college teacher, in 1961. They had three children. With Björk Gísladóttir he has a daughter. With his second wife Ingibjörg Hjartardóttir, a writer, whom he married in 1990, he has two stepsons. The couple moved from Reykjavík to Svarfaðardalur in North Iceland in 2001, where they live at Laugasteinn in Dalvík commune. Ragnar's memoir, Það skelfur, was published in 2013.

Ragnar Stefánsson (born 14 August 1938) is an Icelandic seismologist and a professor at the University of Akureyri. For 38 years he was the head of the Geophysics Department of the Icelandic Meteorological Office. As an author, he has been collected by libraries worldwide.