Esko Aho named to Executive in Residence post at Aalto University

The title Executive in Residence is used in reference to respected top management figures, leading figures in academia or society, or experts who have been invited to Aalto University.

Aho will plan and lead the annual Business and Society course concentrating on the challenges of a global and local operating  environments. Central themes will include, for instance, public regulation of business activities, collaboration between business and society in a digital economy, corporate social responsibility, and ways in which companies can promote sustainable development.

'Good corporate management requires an understanding of the risks and opportunities related to the surrounding society. Success requires both the right kind of vision and the right tools, and with the help of the course we hope to offer them already in the study phase', Esko Aho says. 'It is great to get to carry out this project under the wing of Aalto University.'

Aho will also lecture on economic themes connected with Russia. The term of the post is five years.

Esko Aho served as Prime Minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995 and as Member of Parliament from 1983 to 2003. Since then his tasks have included, among others, the post of Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations and Responsibility at Nokia and membership on the Nokia board, serving as President of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, and being named Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School of Harvard University.

At the moment he is serving as Chairman of the Board of East Office of Finnish Industries Ltd.

The Business and Society course, worth six credits, takes place at the Otaniemi campus of Aalto University, where bachelor studies in business will move in the autumn of 2015. The bachelor-level elective course is open to all at Aalto and it will take place for the first time in the spring of 2016. The language of instruction is English.

Further information:
Dean Ingmar Björkman
tel. +358 40 704 0291
[email protected]

Aalto University School of Business