Erik Rinde was at the core of the founding of PRIO in 1959. He was a jurist, and used to be director of the Institute for Social Research. He was the first chair of the PRIO board (1966-1979).

A portrait of Erik Rinde has been written by Lars Even Andersen, and published in December 2019 as a part of the PRIO Stories compiled for PRIO's 60th Anniversary.