In 1995, Helle Vrønning Dam submitted the first PhD dissertation on interpreting in Denmark. Since then, she has been a pioneer in the field and a key figure in establishing interpreting as a research area in Denmark. For her contributions, she has been awarded the knighthood of the Order of the Dannebrog.

“Among her many contributions to the field of education, special mention should be made of Helle Vrønning Dam’s work in developing and leading the Master’s programme in Conference Interpreting, which, as the only programme of its kind in Denmark, trains highly specialised simultaneous interpreters who are in strong demand by EU institutions. Graduates of the programme help ensure that Danish citizens can participate on equal footing with other nationalities in EU cooperation and democratic processes, and that Danish can be maintained as a working language in an international context as well,” Aarhus University writes in its nomination to the Royal House.

The master’s programme was established in 2017, when the EU faced a generational shift among Danish interpreters and called for an educational programme capable of delivering qualified graduates. Helle Vrønning Dam took on the task.

“I already had contact with the EU through my research when they came to Denmark and reached out. Aarhus University was ready to engage, but if there is no driving force to take responsibility and lead the way, nothing happens. So I took it on. That is why the Master’s in Conference Interpreting is a programme I initiated, developed, and designed the curriculum for, and which I now run, of course together with many excellent colleagues in my team,” says Helle Vrønning Dam.

Sharing an interest with the king

Helle Vrønning Dam holds a cand.ling.merc. degree in Spanish and English from Aarhus School of Business. She has been employed at Aarhus School of Business and Aarhus University since 1989 and was appointed professor of interpreting and translation in 2010.

Since 2022, she has also served as adjunct professor at the University of Greenland, Ilisimatusarfik, where she contributes to the development of a programme in translation and interpreting between Greenlandic and Danish.

“This has become a new passion for me. It makes complete sense to help improve dialogue and mutual understanding between Greenlanders and Danes and to support the preservation of the Greenlandic language,” says Helle Vrønning Dam.

She shared her enthusiasm for her work in Greenland with His Majesty King Frederik during a recent audience, where she also expressed her gratitude for receiving the Order of the Dannebrog.

“He was interested in my work with the master’s programme and its contribution to Danish language and culture, but we mainly spoke about my work in Greenland. His heart is clearly very much connected to Greenland,” says Helle Vrønning Dam.

The field has survived two major “ghosts”

When Helle Vrønning Dam began researching interpreting more than 30 years ago, it was still an emerging field.

“These were truly exciting years. I had to look across national borders to find colleagues working in the same area, so those were the first tentative steps. Today, the field is much more standardised and established, but it is still a small research area,” she explains.

Over the years, two major “ghosts” have haunted the field of interpreting and raised uncertainty about its future. First, the assumption that everyone could simply speak English, and later, generative artificial intelligence and machine translation entering the field with significant force.

“In both cases, I believe things have found their level. Large language models do not appear to become as good as we once expected. And we are probably not quite as proficient in English as we think. When we need to communicate complex and technical matters, language becomes a matter of power. That is why there is still demand for high-level interpreting. In that sense, the profession has proven resilient,” says Helle Vrønning Dam.

Facts

In 2014, Helle Vrønning Dam received the Hedorf Foundation’s award for research in international business communication and language.

She has held several leadership positions, including research programme director, head of department (Department of Business Communication, Aarhus School of Business, 2005–2011), and associate dean (Faculty of Languages and Business Communication, Aarhus School of Business, 2003–2005).

Since 2014, she has been a member of the education committee for the sign language and speech-to-text interpreting programme at University College Copenhagen.

Since 2020, she has been a member of the scientific advisory board of the Centre for Translation Studies at the University of Vienna. She also serves on the editorial and advisory boards of three international journals.

Contact

Helle Vrønning Dam
Professor, Spanish Business Communication
Department of Communication and Culture
Aarhus University
Mail: hd@cc.au.dk