Harald Bergström was born on April 1, 1908, in Mölltorp, situated
in the middle of Sweden. A Master of Philosophy degree was awarded in 1931 at
the University of Uppsala (in mathematics, physics and chemistry, extended to
theoretical physics in 1932). He taught in secondary schools (gymnasiums) from
1932 to 1934, and then returned to Uppsala to pursue his research in
mathematics toward a doctorate degree, which he received in 1938. He had a
permanent lectureship in mathematics at the University of Uppsala from 1938 to
1945, and at a military college in 1945. In 1946, he was asked to hold a new
established professorship in applied mathematics at the Chalmers University of
Technology in Gothenburg, where he became full Professor in 1949. In 1960, the
professorship in applied mathematics was expanded to two professorships--one
in numerical analysis and one in mathematical statistics; he occupied the
latter until his retirement in 1974.