Professors Adam Smale and Pirjo Laaksonen appointed to continue as deans

The Deans will start their new two-year terms at the beginning of August 2020. Terms will last until 31 June 2022.

The dean runs the operation of the individual School, takes responsibility for its profitability, finances and efficiency, and acts as the manager of the School's employees. The duties also include developing the relevant disciplines and promoting the operation of multidisciplinary research platforms. The dean is responsible for developing and monitoring the quality of degree programmes.

Professor of Managment, D.Sc. (Econ.) Adam Smale, 40, has been the Dean of the School of Management since 2018. He was previously the Head of the Department of Management and headed the Human Resource Management research group. Smale received his doctorate in economics and business administration from the University of Vaasa in 2007. Smale is British and has lived in Vaasa since 2004.

– I have been pleased with the way the University and my School have taken steps to renew our organisation and made continuous improvements to its research and education activities. As we soon approach the launch of the university’s new strategy, there is still important work to be done to improve our competitiveness and impact. As Dean, I am looking forward to turning these strategy plans into action over the next couple of years.

Professor of Marketing, D.Sc. (Econ) Pirjo Laaksonen, 60, started as the dean of the School of Marketing and Communication in 2018. She was earlier the head of the Department of Marketing and headed the Consumption Research and Customer Value Creation research group. She received her doctorate in economics from the former Vaasa School of Economics and Business Administration in 1992.

– It is positive that the results of the extensive development of the University of Vaasa are already starting to show. However, many reforms related to teaching, research and the effectiveness of the university are still underway. Implementing the university’s new strategy into my unit’s operations is a challenge that I am happy to take on. However, I do not want to limit my activities to only my own unit, but I want to be strongly involved in the development of the entire university's operations and effectiveness, says Laaksonen.

Since the beginning of 2018, University of Vaasa has four Schools: Accounting and Finance, Management, Marketing and Communication, and Technology and Innovations. Dr. Helinä Saarela is the dean of the School of Accounting and Finance and Dr. Harry Linnarinne the dean of the School of Technology and innovations.

Further information

Adam Smale, adam.smale(at)uwasa.fi

Pirjo Laaksonen, pirjo.laaksonen(at)uwasa.fi