# Gad Rausing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gad_Rausing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gad_Rausing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gad_Rausing > Source revision: 1345747869 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Swedish industrialist and archaeologist (1922–2000)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} thumbnail|Ruben, Gad and Hans Rausing with the first Tetra Pak filling machine prototype, 1967 '''Gad Rausing''' (19 May 1922 – 28 January 2000) was a Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother [Hans](/source/Hans_Rausing), he inherited the Swedish packaging company [Tetra Pak](/source/Tetra_Pak), founded by their father [Ruben Rausing](/source/Ruben_Rausing), and by 2011, the largest [food packaging](/source/food_packaging) company in the world by sales.[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-06/20/content_12732084.htm "Creating a Benchmark for Recycling Rubbish"], ''China Daily'', retrieved 7 November 2011 In 1995, Gad bought out his brother's interest in the company in what was at the time the most extensive private buyout in Europe.[http://www.answers.com/topic/tetra-pak-international-s-a Tetra Pak International S.A.] Frederick C. Ingram in ''The Gale Directory of Company Histories'', retrieved 4 November 2011 Rausing had a lifelong passion for archaeology and the humanities and was an accomplished scholar, earning his PhD from the [University of Lund](/source/University_of_Lund) in 1967 with a dissertation on Scandinavian prehistoric bows and arrowheads.[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/08/business/gad-rausing-77-swedish-innovator-of-beverage-containers.html "Gad Rausing, 77, Swedish Innovator of Beverage Containers"], ''The New York Times'', 8 February 2000[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/713607/Gad-Anders-Rausing Gad Anders Rausing] Encyclopædia Britannica, retrieved 30 October 2011 In addition to his work as deputy managing director at Tetra Pak he was a frequent lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University and the author of several books.[https://runeberg.org/vemardet/1969/0802.html Gad Rausing] Who's Who 1969 (Swedish), retrieved 8 November 2011 ==Early life== Rausing was born in [Bromma](/source/Bromma), outside of [Stockholm](/source/Stockholm), in 1922 as the eldest son of industrialist [Ruben Rausing](/source/Ruben_Rausing) and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). He had two younger brothers, [Hans](/source/Hans_Rausing) and Sven. ==Career== Rausing studied chemistry at the University of Lund and began his career as the head of the research laboratory at [Åkerlund & Rausing](/source/%C3%85kerlund_%26_Rausing), his father's company, where he was in charge of the team developing suitable materials for the newly invented [tetrahedron](/source/tetrahedron) package.[https://www.economist.com/obituary/2000/02/03/gad-rausing "Gad Rausing"], ''The Economist'', 3 February 2000 The tetrahedron subsequently became the central product of [Tetra Pak](/source/Tetra_Pak), which was founded in 1951 as a subsidiary to Åkerlund & Rausing.[http://www.tetrapak.com/about_tetra_pak/the_company/history/pages/ourhistory.aspx "Our History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212043904/http://www.tetrapak.com/about_tetra_pak/the_company/history/Pages/Ourhistory.aspx |date=12 February 2013 }}, Tetrapak.com, retrieved 8 November 2011 Rausing joined Tetra Pak as deputy managing director in 1954. Over the years, the company evolved from a small family business with six full-time employees in 1954 into a multinational corporation with over 20,000 employees (2011), a development much of which has been credited to the leadership of Rausing and his brother throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[http://www.tetrapak.com/about_tetra_pak/the_company/facts_and_figures/pages/default.aspx "Company Facts and Figures"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112055705/http://www.tetrapak.com/about_tetra_pak/the_company/facts_and_figures/Pages/default.aspx |date=12 November 2013 }}, Tetrapak.com, retrieved 30 October 2011 The great success of the business was largely the result of their development of [aseptic packaging technology](/source/aseptic_processing), developed in the 1950s and early 1960s and later called the most important food packaging innovation of the 20th century.[http://www.answers.com/topic/tetra-pak-international-s-a Tetra Pak International S.A.] Frederick C. Ingram in ''The Gale Directory of Company Histories'', retrieved 30 October 2011 Rausing had a parallel career as a scholar in prehistoric Scandinavian archaeology and was a [reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)) at the Institute of Archaeology at Lund University.Leander, Lars, ''Tetra Pak. A Vision Becomes Reality. A company history with a difference'', Lund: Tetra Pak International 1996 ({{ISBN|91-630-4789-6}}), p. 30 Asked how he could uphold a position in senior management of a global corporation and do archaeological research at the same time, he stated "a fair number of left-over hours in airports and planes" as his key to finding the time.Idem ==Patronage== Rausing's passion for the humanities led to his frequent sponsorship of various research projects, among others the excavation of the 10th Century [Viking](/source/Viking) trading town of [Birka](/source/Birka) outside Stockholm. Rausing's foundation, [The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation](/source/The_Birgit_and_Gad_Rausing_Foundation), awards grants to research within the humanities and supports several important institutions, among others Lund and [Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford) universities.[http://www.rausing.org The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation] Retrieved 31 October 2011 In 2002, the [Gad Rausing Prize for Outstanding Humanistic Research](/source/Gad_Rausing_Prize_for_Outstanding_Humanistic_Research) was instituted by Rausing's three children in memory of their father at the [Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities](/source/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Letters%2C_History_and_Antiquities), where Gad Rausing was a member during his lifetime.[http://www.vitterhetsakad.se/priser The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities] Retrieved 31 October 2011 Rausing became [Doctor Honoris Causa](/source/Doctor_Honoris_Causa) at the [Royal Institute of Technology](/source/Royal_Institute_of_Technology) in Stockholm in 1983.[http://www.rausing.org/ The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation] Retrieved 31 October 2011 In 2024, the [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford) established the Gad Rausing Associate Professorship of Viking Age Archaeology, funded by a gift from Gad's daughter, Kirsten. Dr [Jane Kershaw](/source/Jane_Kershaw) was named the inaugural post-holder.{{cite web |url=https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/article/gift-enables-oxford-establish-its-first-academic-post-focused-viking-age |title=Gift enables Oxford to establish its first academic post focused on the Viking Age }}{{cite web |url=https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/gad-rausing-associate-professor-of-viking-age-archaeology-fund |title=Gad Rausing Associate Professor of Viking-Age Archaeology Fund }} ==Gad and Birgit Rausing Library== The [Lahore University of Management Sciences](/source/Lahore_University_of_Management_Sciences) (LUMS) library has been renamed as Gad & Birgit Rausing Library to acknowledge the donation provided by the Rausing family to construct the library building.{{YouTube|bZFYkhvuZLA}} Dennis Jönsson, the CEO of Tetra Pak, inaugurated the library on 17 March 2011, noting that the Rausing family funds were utilized for educational purposes and unveiled a plaque commemorating the Rausing family's donation. ==Personal life== Gad Rausing was married to [Birgit Rausing](/source/Birgit_Rausing) and had three children, [Finn](/source/Finn_Rausing), [Jörn](/source/J%C3%B6rn_Rausing), and [Kirsten](/source/Kirsten_Rausing). ==Legacy== thumb|right|300px|Rescue Cruiser Gad Rausing The [Swedish Sea Rescue Society](/source/Swedish_Sea_Rescue_Society) has a class of rescue vessels where the lead ship, Gad Rausing, was built in 2002 after a large donation from the Tetra Laval group. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Selected bibliography== *Rausing, Gad, ''China and Europe: some notes on communications in early times'', Lund: Tetra Pak International, 1996 *Rausing, Gad, ''Prehistoric boats and ships of northwestern Europe: some reflections'', Malmö: Liber Förlag/Gleerup, 1984 *Rausing, Gad, ''Ecology, economy and man'', Malmö: Liber Läromedel/Gleerup, 1981 *Rausing, Gad, ''The bow: some notes on its origin and development'', Lund: Gleerups, 1967 *Rausing, Gad, ''Lars Lawskis vapensamling'', Norrköping: Norrköpings museum, 1960 ==External links== *[http://www.tetrapak.com Tetra Pak Homepage] *[http://www.rausing.org The Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation] *[http://www.vitterhetsakad.se The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquity] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rausing, Gad}} Category:1922 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Lund University alumni Category:20th-century Swedish businesspeople Gad Category:Swedish industrialists Category:Businesspeople from Stockholm --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gad Rausing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gad_Rausing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gad_Rausing?action=history)). 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