Alum of the Year
What does it mean to be Alum of the Year?
JYU is alma mater to many highly accomplished alumni. Every year, we want to honour one such alum by naming them Alum of the Year.
Alum of the Year is a graduate who has made a difference in society and inspired others – an alum who sets an example while fostering the values of the university.
The Alum of the Year serves as an example to current and future students of the kinds of careers you can build with an education from JYU.
Alum of the Year 2026: ?
Nominations are closed, and selection for this year's award recipient is currently in process. The honoree will be announced shortly.
2025: Miikka Rokkanen
Miikka Rokkanen holds a bachelor's and master's degree in economics from the University of Jyväskylä and a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Rokkanen is a principal economist at Amazon's Customer Behavior Analytics unit, where he is responsible for leading scientific research and supporting data-driven decision-making globally. Rokkanen is also a senior researcher at the prestigious Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative program at the University of Pennsylvania. There, he mentors students and promotes corporate collaboration in artificial intelligence and analytics. Prior to Amazon, Rokkanen worked as an assistant professor at Columbia University, focusing specifically on econometrics and labor economics.
2024: Arja Paananen
Arja Paananen is an award-winning special journalist of the daily newspaper Ilta-Sanomat. She has been reporting on events in Russia for over 30 years. Paananen graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a degree in Russian language and literature. She has lived in Russia for over ten years and works in Finnish and Russian. She has been named Journalist of the Year 2024 and was awarded the Finnish Film Journalism Prize in 2018 for her long-term and competent reporting on Russia. In 2012, her work gained recognition as the Story of the Year in Bonnier's Great Journalist Awards.
2023: Tuomo Rannankari
Rannankari holds a class teacher degree from the University of Jyväskylä. Now an award-winning children’s musician, Rannankari was one of the founders of the celebrated choir Seminaarinmäen mieslaulajat, and he sang in the choir for over thirty years. Studies at the University of Jyväskylä proved significant for his later life as well.
2022: Päivi Anttikoski
Päivi Anttikoski, an alum of journalism, currently serves as the Director of Marketing, Communications and Corporate Responsibility at SOK, the Central Finnish Cooperative Society of retailers. Previously, her career has included extensive stretches in media (commercial television station MTV) and government (Prime Minister's office).
