New Board appointed for the University of Vaasa

The Board of the University of Vaasa has nine members, four of whom come from within and five

from outside the university. The Board has a term of four years, but the term of a student member is two years. The term of Pirkko Nuolijärvi, who will continue on the Board for a second term, is two years.

The New Board 2014

Mr Lars G. Hassel, Professor, principal of the Umeå University School of Economics

Mr Petri Ingström, Head of Administration/Faculty of Technology, University of Vaasa

Ms Anne Korkiakoski, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Kone Oy,

Ms Merja Koskela, Professor, University of Vaasa

Ms Pirkko Nuolijärvi, Professor, Director of the Institute for the Languages of Finland (2014–2015)

Mr Turo Ranta, Student Member, University of Vaasa (2014–2015)

Mr Heikki Uusitalo, ABB Oy Chief Technology Officer and Division Manager

Mr Sami Vähämaa, Professor, University of Vaasa

Mr Johnny Åkerholm, Economic policy expert to the Economic Council at the Prime Minister’s Office

Lars G. Hassel

Professor Lars Hassel is the principal of the Umeå University School of Economics and a professor of accounting. He has worked as a long-term visiting scholar in many foreign universities. In recent years, he has specialised on the research of sustainable investment solutions as the Director of an international research programme, funded by the Mistra Foundation. Lars Hassel received his doctorate from and has worked as a professor at Åbo Akademi University. Hassel was born in 1950.

Petri Ingström

Petri Ingström is the Head of Administration in the Faculty of Technology at the University of Vaasa. He is responsible for processing faculty’s finance and policy plans and passing resolutions to the Faculty Council, the Dean and the faculty’s management team. He was born in 1952.

Anne Korkiakoski

Executive Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Kone Oy, Anne Korkiakoski is a Master of Economic Sciences from the University of Vaasa. Selected as the Marketing Manager of the Year in 2012, Korkiakoski is a member of the Board of Directors at Kone and is responsible for the company’s global marketing and communications. Korkiakoski has previously worked for Elisa Oyj and as the Managing Director of Euro RSCG Nordic. She was born in 1964.

Merja Koskela

Merja Koskela is the Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Vaasa. Prof. Koskela is also the leader of the Multidisciplinary Master’s Programme on Communication, she held the position of the Vice rector of the University of Vaasa (responsible for education) in 2003–2008, and was nominated the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy for the period of 2010–11. She was born in 1965.

Pirkko Nuolijärvi

Professor Pirkko Nuolijärvi, the Director of the Institute for the Languages of Finland, will start her second term in the Board at the University of Vaasa. She holds a doctorate in philosophy. She was previously the Assistant Professor for Finnish and communications at the Helsinki School of Economics, and has worked at the University of Helsinki and Uppsala University. She has been a member of the Board at the Academy of Finland (2003-2009) and is currently the Vice President of the Language Committee under the Ministry of Justice. Pirkko Nuolijärvi is a professor emerita at the University of Vaasa. She was born in 1949.

Heikki Uusitalo

ABB Oy Chief Technology Officer and Division Manager Heikki Uusitalo has a diverse international career. He has collaborated with the University of Vaasa Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation for a long time. Uusitalo has strong experience in administration and management and he is the First Vice President of the Board at the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of the Board at VASEK Oy, and the President of the Ostrobothnia Regional Board of Directors at the Confederation of Finnish Industries. Uusitalo, who comes from Vaasa, is a Master of Science in Technology. He was born in 1954.

Sami Vähämaa

Sami Vähämaa is a Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Vaasa. Prof. Vähämaa is also appointed as a Docent at the Turku School of Economics and as a Research Fellow at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, and he currently serves as the editor of the Finnish Journal of Business Economics. Previously, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Central Florida and the European Central Bank. Prof. Vähämaa is a recipient of several international research awards. He was born in 1977.

Johnny Åkerholm

After a long career with economic policy and finance, Johnny Åkerholm retired as the President and CEO of Nordic Investment Bank. Until the end of this year, he will act as an economic policy expert to the Economic Council at the Prime Minister’s Office. He holds a Licentiate in Political Science and is a Master of Economics. He has previously worked in the Bank of Finland, as the Secretary General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, as the Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance and as the President of the European Union’s Economic and Financial Committee. He was born in 1948.

Turo Ranta

Turo Ranta is the Financial Director of the Student Union of the University of Vaasa since 2011. He will continue on the Board for a second two-year term. Ranta is currently studying for Master of Economic Sciences in the University of Vaasa. He was born in 1985.

Further information: Chairman of the University Collegium, Professor Martti Laaksonen, tel. +35829 449 8465, martti.laaksonen@uwasa.fi