Author Sirpa Kähkönen will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences in a doctoral conferment ceremony on 6th of June.
The University of Eastern Finland will celebrate its 6th doctoral conferment ceremony, to be held in Kuopio on 5–7 June.
The three faculties operating on the Kuopio Campus – the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies – have selected 15 scientifically or socially distinguished persons upon whom an Honorary Doctorate will be conferred. An Honorary Doctorate is the highest distinction the university may confer upon a person.
More detailed presentations of the Honorary Doctors can be found on the Conferment Ceremony website.
Societal and financial expertise
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies will confer an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences upon the Kuopio-born Author Sirpa Kähkönen, Professor Kevin Durrheim and Professor Eeva Furman. An Honorary Doctorate in Business Studies will be conferred upon Professor Emeritus Juha Kinnunen. An Honorary Doctorate in Health Sciences will be conferred upon Professor Axel Börsch-Supan.
Sirpa Kähkönen is known as an author depicting social themes. Her works often portray the fates of civilians, women and children during times of social upheaval and crises. Kähkönen has been recognised with numerous awards throughout her career, with the most recent being the Finlandia Literature Prize in 2023.
Kevin Durrheim is a Distinguished Professor in Psychology at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. His areas of specialisation include social psychology, social interaction and cooperation, and group solidarity. Professor Durrheim has collaborated with University of Eastern Finland researchers on the FriendMUM project.
Professor Emeritus Juha Kinnunen is a long-standing Professor of Accounting at Aalto University School of Business, formerly known as Helsinki School of Economics. His research is focused on financial accounting, especially market-based accounting and financial statement analysis. Professor Emeritus Kinnunen has contributed to the internationalisation of accounting research at the University of Eastern Finland.
Professor Axel Börsch-Supan is an internationally renowned scholar of the economics of ageing. Professor Börsch-Supan’s academic career is long, with his most recent appointments including the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, and the Managing Director of the research infrastructure Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, SHARE. Professor Börsch-Supan’s insights into the societal impacts of ageing have been utilised by, e.g., the OECD and the World Bank.
Professor Eeva Furman serves as the Secretary-General of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development at the Prime Minister’s Office. She has previously served as the Director of the Environmental Policy Centre at the Finnish Environment Institute and as the Chair of the Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development.
Excellence in atmospheric and indoor air research
The Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology will confer an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy upon Academician Markku Kulmala, Professor Emerita Aino Nevalainen, Professor Arnold Pears and Professor Walter Herzog.
Professor Markku Kulmala is a one of the world’s leading researchers of the physics and chemistry of atmospheric aerosols, and his research has significantly enhanced our understanding of the mechanisms contributing to climate change. Professor Kulmala was awarded the title of Academician in 2017. He serves as a Professor of Aerosol and Environmental Physics at the University of Helsinki, and he was appointed as an Academy Professor for three terms in 2004–2021.
Professor Emerita Aino Nevalainen is a well-renowned scholar of environmental health, particularly recognised for her research on indoor air quality. She has raised awareness of indoor air quality research, and its significance, among the public and decision-makers alike. Professor Emerita Nevalainen conducted research into indoor air microbes at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, and at its predecessor, the National Public Health Institute of Finland, from 1983 to 2011.
Arnold Pears is a Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Professor Pears is an internationally well-recognised scholar of engineering and computing education, and collaboration between him and colleagues at the University of Eastern Finland dates back more than two decades, with Professor Pears serving as a long-standing collaborator and mentor for several University of Eastern Finland researchers.
Walter Herzog is a Professor at the University of Calgary and the Director of the Human Performance Lab. He is a well-recognised scholar of musculoskeletal system neuro-biomechanics. Professor Herzog has collaborated with colleagues at the University of Eastern Finland on several joint projects involving, e.g., animal models of osteoarthritis, and the measurement of biomechanical and biological responses of cells.
Pioneers in public health, vascular biology, neurosciences and drug development
The Faculty of Health Sciences will confer an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine upon Professor Emeritus Jaakko Tuomilehto, Professor Lena Claesson-Welsh, Professor Christian Haass and Dr Frederik Paulsen. An Honorary Doctorate in Pharmacy will be conferred upon Professor Emeritus Sven Frøkjær, and an Honorary Doctorate in Health Sciences upon Professor Paula Sherwood.
Professor Emeritus Jaakko Tuomilehto is one of Finland’s most internationally renowned scholars of public health. His specialties include diabetes, hypertension and arterial diseases. Professor Emeritus Tuomilehto’s academic career began in the North Karelia Project coordinated by the University of Kuopio in 1973, and he has made a long career at the National Public Health Institute of Finland, and as a Professor of Public Health at the Universities of Kuopio and Helsinki. He is the most cited Finnish researcher in medicine, and among the top 50 most cited medical researchers in the world.
Professor Lena Claesson-Welsh at Uppsala University is a renowned pioneer in vascular biology. She has been involved in numerous significant research projects addressing vascular permeability and vascular formation, and collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland is extensive, ranging from research collaboration to the organisation of international conferences, and to the supervision of doctoral students and serving as their opponent.
Professor Emeritus Sven Frøkjær has made an impressive career in academia and corporate leadership, as well as in various administrative roles. He has served as a Professor, Vice-Dean and Dean at the University of Copenhagen, and as the Rector of the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has also held leadership positions at Novo Nordisk. Professor Emeritus Frøkjær’s research is focused on drug delivery and the biophysics of biopharmaceuticals, and he actively collaborates with the DrugTech research community at the University of Eastern Finland.
Professor Christian Haass at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) is one of the world’s most renowned researchers of Alzheimer’s disease. His research in the field of neurosciences is focused on Alzheimer’s disease, as well as on the molecular, cellular and systems-level research of frontotemporal dementia. Professor Haass actively collaborates with the Neuroscience research community and its researchers at the University of Eastern Finland.
Dr Frederik Paulsen has been a long-standing Chairman of Ferring Pharmaceuticals’ Board of Directors, currently serving as its Honorary Chairman. Dr Paulsen’s significance to the University of Eastern Finland, and to the City of Kuopio, is immense. Under his leadership, Ferring Pharmaceuticals has invested over 100 million euros in the biotechnology company FinVector in recent years. Dr Paulsen has also provided significant support for the research conducted in the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland.
Professor Paula Sherwood at the University of Virginia is a distinguished scholar of nursing science, with her research focusing on the quality of care in patients with cancer, as well as on family interventions in patients with brain tumours. Professor Sherwood was appointed as a Fulbright Professor at the University of Eastern Finland from 2012 to 2013, and she has collaborated extensively with researchers at the Department of Nursing Science.
