Honorary doctorates of the University of Jyväskylä 2026

Docent Susanna Pettersson

Susanna Pettersson has had a successful career in leadership roles at national and international arts institutions. She currently leads the Finnish Cultural Foundation, a major promoter and financer of science, art and culture in Finland. Pettersson’s work in arts and science institutions is informed by her extensive research expertise and insight. Her work has a significant impact on society as well as on art and science policies.

She has also served as the director of the Ateneum Art Museum, the Director General of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and the Alvar Aalto Museum. In 2021, she received the honorary prize of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for her life’s work in the museum field.

Professor Roger Azevedo

Professor Roger Azevedo is one of the world’s leading researchers in learning analytics. He has collaborated closely with researchers from the Faculty of Information Technology in this field and published joint papers with them. Azevedo’s educational background is in learning psychology.

His goal is to understand the complex interaction between humans and intelligent learning systems. He employs interdisciplinary methods to measure cognitive, metacognitive, emotional, motivational and social processes as well as their impact on learning, performance and transfer.

In 2025, the University of Central Florida awarded Azevedo the prestigious Pegasus Professor title, granted to leading experts who exceed regular academic expectations in teaching and research.

Executive vice-president of the European Commission Henna Virkkunen

Henna Virkkunen is the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the European Commission (2024–2029). She is also responsible for the Commission’s Digital and Frontier Technologies portfolio, leading efforts to build a digital future for the EU. Virkkunen started as a member of the European Parliament in 2014, having previously served as a member of the Finnish Parliament and a minister.

Virkkunen graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a licentiate degree in communication studies. Nevertheless, her influence extends far beyond this field of study due to her EU duties. The key areas of her current role – digitalisation, artificial intelligence and comprehensive security – are all strongly linked to the activities of the Faculty of Information Technology.

Executive Director of IEA Fatih Birol

Fatih Birol is the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). He has led the IEA’s modernisation programme, which aimed to expand its energy security to encompass not only oil but also electricity, natural gas, renewable energy sources, and critical minerals. The programme has established the IEA as a global hub for advanced energy technologies. The IEA has consistently promoted policy recommendations that support the green transition in energy research. 

During his career, Birol has worked as a head economist on the IEA’s flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook. He has pioneered and passionately supported efforts to expand access to electricity and to clean cooking technologies and fuels in Africa and beyond. Birol has been included in the TIME100 list, and Forbes has recognised him as one of the most influential people in the world of energy. He has received numerous decorations, including the Legion of Honour from the President of France and the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan.

Professor Eero Vaara

Professor Eero Vaara is one of the world’s leading organisational and strategy researchers. He has worked closely with strategy researchers at the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics for many years. Vaara’s research focuses particularly on strategic and institutional change. He is widely regarded as a leading researcher in organisational discourse analysis.

Professor Vaara has held several positions of trust in major academic associations in the field of leadership, including the Academy of Management (AOM) and the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOs). He has worked as editor of the Academy of Management Journal and on the editorial boards of numerous other management journals. He has received various awards and recognitions for his work, including membership in the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Academy of Management Fellowship, and an honorary doctorate from the Estonian Business School.

Professor Laura Lundy

Laura Lundy is a professor emerita of Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast and a professor of law at University College Cork. She is also the co-director of Queens University’s interdisciplinary Centre for Children’s Rights, which promotes research and development in children’s quality of life globally, particularly with regard to realising children’s rights and strengthening their participation. Professor Lundy is a trained barrister at law and has been the joint editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Children’s Rights.

Professor Lundy is renowned for her work on children’s right to participate in decision-making processes. Her pioneering model of child participation has been adopted by many international organisations and institutions, including the European Commission, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF.

Professor Lundy has written extensively on children’s right to education and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in law and policy. She has also pioneered the development of child-friendly versions of international human rights documents, including a series of such versions of the 2021 EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child.

Professor Lars-Erik Malmberg

Lars-Erik Malmberg is a professor of quantitative methods in education at the University of Oxford. He applies advanced quantitative models to investigate substantive research questions in education with a specific interest on psychological constructs related to individuals’ development and educational outcomes. His current research research interests are on intrapersonal approaches to learning processes and the modelling of intrapersonal data. His influential work has informed the field on ways of analysing complex multi-level data as well as on questions related to developmental trajectories. Malmberg earned his doctorate at Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa, Finland, and prior to that completed teacher training. He completed his postdoctoral training at Yale University and enjoyed the prestigious Research Councils UK (RCUK) academic fellowship. He has served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Learning and Instruction, a leading journal in the field.

Malmberg is a prolific author and is very active in collaborative networks. He has a long-standing collaboration with the researchers of psychology and education at the University of Jyväskylä. He frequently gives guest lectures and keynotes on topics related to the use of advanced methods to address and unravel questions such as the intraindividual dynamics of student engagement, learning experiences, motivation, and self-efficacy, and teacher-student interaction.

Professor Susanne Iwarsson

Professor Susanne Iwarsson has served as a professor of occupational therapy and, since 2005, as a professor of gerontology and care for older people at Lund University. She has conducted trailblazing research into the interaction between human functional capacity and the physical environment. To assess this interaction, she developed a tool that is currently in use in several countries. She has established the Center for Ageing and Supportive Environments and has led the Swedish National Graduate School for Competitive Science on Ageing and Health since 2014. She has also worked as editor-in-chief of the international Open Rehabilitation Journal.

In 2022, she received the Sohlberg Prize in recognition of her contributions to gerontology in the Nordic region. Professor Susanne Iwarsson has been an important partner for researchers at the University of Jyväskylä and the Gerontology Research Center (GEREC) for two decades. Additionally, as a member of GEREC’s scientific steering group, she has contributed to the centre’s operations.

The President of Finland Alexander Stubb

Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, has been an active advocate of sports and physical activity for decades, a commitment he has maintained in his current role. For instance, he likes to visit schools to discuss the importance of physical activity, healthy living, and adequate rest and recovery. An active sports enthusiast all his life, he sets an example by including exercise in even his busiest workdays. He is known as a friend of top-level sports. He actively follows various sports events and supports athletes, even during difficult times.

The values of the President of the Republic align well with those of the University of Jyväskylä and the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences: openness, trust, quality, and integrity and the promotion of physical activity, well-being and health at all stages of life. As a former professor with an academic background, the President understands the importance of academic research in evidence-based decision-making. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, he is also familiar with the faculty’s close collaboration with the defence forces regarding the physical performance of soldiers.

Professor Johanna Ivaska

Johanna Ivaska is a professor of molecular cell biology at the University of Turku. She specialises in mechanisms related to cell migration and adhesion, particularly integrins and cell membrane signalling pathways. This internationally significant basic research sheds light on how cancer cells migrate and how they spread from one tissue to another. Her research aims to find solutions especially to prevent the spread of cancer and the formation of metastases. She leads the Centre of Excellence in Biological Barrier Mechanics and Disease, which is funded by the Research Council of Finland, and is an active member of the InFlames flagship. In 2023, she was awarded the European Commission’s ERC Advanced grant. In spring 2025, she received the Finnish Science Award.

Professor Johanna Ivaska has worked as an academy professor and a researcher funded by the European Union. She has also worked as an expert on the international evaluation panel of the University of Jyväskylä’s Nanoscience Center, supporting its scientific development work. She has also been an invited speaker at the Nanoscience Days and has performed various evaluation duties at the University, including serving as an opponent in public examinations of doctoral dissertations.

Professor Karen Smith

Professor Karen E. Smith is an American mathematician. She works at the University of Michigan, where she is chair of the Department of Mathematics. Professor Smith specialises in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her scientific achievements. She is a member of both the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Smith has visited the Department of Mathematics at the University of Jyväskylä several times since the 1990s. Her most recent extended visit was during the 2021–2022 academic year, when she spent her sabbatical as a visiting professor in Jyväskylä. She has taught numerous advanced algebra courses, a field in which there is little expertise in Finland. A series of lectures she held in Jyväskylä led to the creation of a textbook on algebraic geometry which is still in use worldwide. This was co-authored by two mathematicians who were working in Jyväskylä at the time.

Karen Smith is a prime example of a woman who has excelled as a mathematics researcher and teacher. She is widely recognised by the scientific community as a role model for young women.