Halla Tómasdóttir

Halla graduated from Verzlunarskóli Íslands in 1986, and afterwards moved to the United States as an international student, where she attended Evansville Central High School and graduated from Auburn University at Montgomery with a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a focus on management and human resources, in 1993. She received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University in 1995. Halla also has a Doctor of Business Administration from Cranfield University.

Halla is a former member of the founding team of Reykjavík University in 1998. She also co-founded Auður Capital, an investment firm. She served as the chief executive of The B Team, a global nonprofit group of business and civil society leaders working to promote business practices focused on humanity and the climate.

2016 presidential campaign

Halla announced her candidacy for the presidency of Iceland on 17 March 2016. She received 27.9% of the vote, the second-highest share after that of the winner, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, who received 39.1%.

2024 presidential campaign

Halla announced her candidacy for the presidency of Iceland on 17 March 2024. Her campaign focused on issues such as the effects of social media on the mental health of youth, tourism development, and the role of artificial intelligence.

In the campaign, Halla declared herself opposed to Iceland's participation in arms purchases for Ukraine, which has been resisting a Russian invasion of the country since 2022. Her stance led to criticism from Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who called it an "arrogant attitude" to condition support for Ukraine on them not buying what they most need.

On 1 June 2024, Halla was elected with 73,182 votes and received 34.1% of the popular vote, defeating former prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir by a roughly 10-point margin.

Halla was born in Reykjavík. She is married to Björn Skúlason. They have two children. Halla's parents are Tómas Björn Þórhallsson, a plumber, and Kristjana Sigurðardóttir, a social educator.