The Aalto University is a Finnish university established on January 1, 2010, by the merger of the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. This article intends to present the notable alumni and people linked to the Aalto University and its three founding schools.
In the list are included graduates and full professors. Visiting professors have not been added and non-graduated students only in rare cases where so is stated. It is notable that before 2005 there in general were no bachelor's degrees awarded at the universities.
![]() | This article's list of people may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(September 2021) |
![]() | This article's list of people may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(September 2021) |
The university is governed by the seven-member Aalto University Foundation Board, currently consisting of: [4]
Former members of the foundation board:
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan; the passenger terminal at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.; the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport; and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. He was the son of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.
Helsinki University of Technology was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and it was one of the three universities from which the modern day Aalto University was founded. The university was founded in 1849 by Grand Duke of Finland, Emperor Nicholas I and received university status in 1908. It moved from Helsinki to Otaniemi campus area in 1966. The merger of HUT with two other schools created the Aalto University in 2010, and HUT briefly held the name Aalto University School of Science and Technology before being split into four schools in 2011.
Tappara is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, which makes them the most successful club in Finland. The team continued the traditions of the Tammerfors Bollklub.
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Finnish: Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; Swedish: Aalto-universitetets högskola för konst, design och arkitektur), was formed of two separate schools: the faculty of architecture and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. TaiK, founded in 1871, was the largest art university in the Nordic countries. The university awards the following academic degrees: Bachelor of Science in Technology, Architect, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Arts.
Kaj Gabriel Franck was one of the leading figures of Finnish design and an influential figure in design and applied arts between 1940 and 1980.
Yrjö Kalervo Sotamaa is a Finnish designer and design strategist. Sotamaa is Professor Emeritus of Design Innovation in the Aalto University School of Art, Design and Architecture and President Emeritus of the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TAIK). He served as the president of TAIK from 1986 until 2008. He earned his MA in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design from TAIK, where he studied with Kaj Franck and Antti Nurmesniemi.
Iittala, founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware.
Kristian Valter Alexander Gullichsen was a Finnish architect. The son of Harry and Maire Gullichsen, he was born into a family of industrialists, designers and artists. His siblings were the renowned Finnish philosopher Lilli Alanen and Johan Gullichsen, a professor of engineering. Kristian Gullichsen had three sons and two daughters, one of the sons was the artist Alvar Gullichsen. Gullichsen was married twice; his second wife was architect Kirsi Gullichsen.
The architecture of Finland has a history spanning over 800 years, and while up until the modern era the architecture was highly influenced by Sweden, there were also influences from Germany and Russia. From the early 19th century onwards influences came directly from further afield: first when itinerant foreign architects took up positions in the country and then when the Finnish architect profession became established.
The Helsinki School was a name introduced in an article by Boris Hohmeyer, Aufbruch im hohen Norden, in Art Das Kunstmagazin in 2003. This was the first time it was used as a brand name to describe a selection of artists who had studied under adjunct professor Timothy Persons at the University of Art & Design in Espoo from the beginning of 1990s. So far, with over a 180 international publications, the Helsinki School represents a collaborative approach, where students of photography, not only work together by presenting each other's works but, exhibit with their professors, mentors and former alumni in a joint effort to share in mutual contextual dialogue that uses the photographic process as a tool for thinking.
Matti Juhani Alahuhta was the President & CEO of KONE Corporation (2005–2014). Earlier he worked 26 years at Nokia Corporation and was Member of Nokia's Executive Board from 1993 to 2004. He is Chairman of the Board of DevCo Partners Oy. He is also Member of the Board of Directors of Kone Corporation (2003-) and AB Volvo (2014-).
Aalto University is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The close collaboration between the scientific, business and arts communities is intended to foster multi-disciplinary education and research.
Timo Untamo Honkela was a computer scientist at the University of Helsinki, Aalto University School of Science and Aalto University School of Art, Design and Architecture. He holds a PhD from Helsinki University of Technology.
Pauli Ernesti Blomstedt, more commonly known as P. E. Blomstedt, was a Finnish architect and designer, who worked first in the Nordic Classicism style and then turned to Functionalism. His father, Yrjö Blomstedt, and younger brother, Aulis Blomstedt, were also well-known architects.
Yrjö Kukkapuro is a Finnish interior architect and furniture designer.
Rising Finland was a Finnish political association founded on October 5, 1940. It aimed to "nurture the Spirit of the Winter War", promote the idea of a united people, to reorganize the bourgeois party field and to create a stronger leadership and increasing personal responsibility. According to the organization, its goal was to bring together citizens around national symbols whose value was "perceived by all our people in the great trials of the 1939-1940 War of Independence".