Keijo Hämäläinen is currently Rector of the University of Jyväskylä. He will take up his position as Rector of the University of Tampere at the beginning of June.
The decision was made on Tuesday by the Board of the Tampere University Foundation.
Hämäläinen has strong experience in university leadership and various positions of trust.
He has been Rector of the University of Jyväskylä since 2017 and is now in his second term.
Hämäläinen considers it important that a good spirit of unity is created between the rector and the Tampere higher education community.
– The principal must build trust, create a common vision and get the team to work together. That’s the way to succeed and that’s what I invest in, he tells Yle.
The rector manages the activities of the foundation university. The rector’s term of office is five years, and the position begins on June 1, 2023.
Rector change earlier than expected
According to the original information, the new principal was not supposed to start his position until January 1, 2024. However, now the power is changing earlier than expected.
Tampere University and Tampere University of Technology merged at the beginning of 2019. Together with Tampere University of Applied Sciences, it forms Finland’s most diverse higher education community. Walls has served as the first rector of the new university.
During Walls’ term, there has been, among other things, debates about reducing the facilities at the University of Tampere.
The University of Tampere also organized an expression of opinion in January to get a new rector. The organizers of the event were worried about the narrowing of university democracy. The goal of the expression of opinion was to make the voice of the university community heard in the election of the rector.
Keijo Hämäläinen states that jumping into the position of principal after Walls was not scary.
– There is a great group here and an atmosphere of working together. They are heavy issues, he says.
*News corrected on 21 March 2023 at 14:33: The new principal will start on 1 June 2023.*