Jørn Henriksen

Jørn Henriksen is the Director of Expedition Operations for Viking. Raised in Tromsø, Norway, he has spent most of his life in the Arctic and brings 25 years of expedition management experience to Viking. He has worked as head expedition leader in Svalbard, Antarctica and other polar regions, and has led multiple ski and hiking expeditions in the High Arctic. During his 11 years at Hurtigruten, Henriksen was an operations manager and then head of polar operations. He is the founding partner and former chairman of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators and is also a former executive committee member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. Henriksen’s education includes time in the Royal Norwegian Air Force as well as an outdoor leadership and political science degrees from UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.

Aaron Lawton

Aaron Lawton, Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), joined Viking in 2020 as Expedition Operations Manager. Based in British Columbia, Canada, he brings over two decades of experience in expedition cruising as a leader and kayak guide on more than 150 voyages to the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica. In 2001, Aaron and his wife, Cathy, also kayaked the length of the Antarctic Peninsula on an unsupported sea kayak expedition. Aaron’s passion for adventure and firsthand knowledge ensures exciting developments for our new Viking Expeditions launching in 2022.

In 2015, Aaron received the RCGS Erebus Medal. It was presented to him and the other senior members of Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team for their successful discovery of HMS Erebus—an exploration ship lost during Sir John Franklin’s 1845–1848 search for the Northwest Passage—in the Arctic Archipelago during the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition.

Jean Newman Glock

For Viking Ambassador-at-Large Jean Newman Glock, a master’s in science and a foreign service degree from Georgetown University led to a 12-year stint in international oil consulting with a focus on the geopolitics of the Middle East and Arabian Gulf, and worldwide travels.  

She next joined the Smithsonian Institution, where she was responsible for an extensive portfolio of over 300 annual international tours and the student travel program, and then served for four years as Managing Director for Communications and Public Affairs at Signature Travel Network.  

Jean has worked with the White House, U.S. Department of State and U.S. Chamber of Commerce to promote tourism post Arab Spring in the Middle East and Northern Africa. She also serves as Vice-Chair on the board of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and is a board member of Petra National Trust. 

Her extensive travel background has given Jean unparalleled “feet on the ground” experience and access. Through her social media platforms, blog and publications, she shares her personal travel stories and images, taking her audience around the world and inspiring them to explore it.