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Hans Christensen (1924-1983) was a designer, silversmith, and educator in Rochester, N.Y.
Christensen was born to Holger and Valborg Christensen in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he also lived with his brother Per. Christensen attended the School for Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen and in Oslo, Norway. He began his career working for renowned Danish silversmith, Georg Jensen. In 1952, Christensen made his first visit to the United States representing Jensen's works at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. He emigrated to the United States in 1954 and began his professorship of metalsmithing and jewelry at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). At RIT, he held the Charlotte Fredericks Mowris Professorship in Contemporary Crafts and was posthumously awarded the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Over the span of his career, Christensen completed numerous commissions including works for the Vatican, royal families of Europe and Iran, RIT, Xerox, and others. He was a member of the International Institute of Arts and Letters in Switzerland, the College of Fellows of the American Crafts Council, the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and the Nathaniel Rochester Society.
Christensen was married to Astrid Elizabeth Sandum, called "Betten," from 1953 to 1965. In 1968, Christensen married Elisabeth "Els" Christensen, née Meijer. He died in a car accident in 1983 in Rochester, N.Y.