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Professor Henrikki Tikkanen has been named the holder of the A.I. Virtanen Professorship in the Department of Marketing. A professor at the School of Business since 2004, Tikkanen’s research focuses on strategic leadership and marketing, as well as on the dynamics of top management in large companies.

‘A I Virtanen was a forerunner in the Finnish world of science and an early Nobelist, whose innovations led to remarkable business. I want to do my part in advancing the same kind of collaboration between research and business,’ says Tikkanen. ‘One example of this is a new Tekes funded research project focusing on artificial intelligence applications to boost B2B marketing.’

Long term collaboration with Valio

Aalto University established the A. I. Virtanen Professorship in 2015 in recognition of the support by Finland's biggest dairy company Valio to scientific research at the School of Business. The A. I. Virtanen Professorship symbolises the long-standing cooperation between Valio and Aalto University, as well as their common goals in the advancement of consumer research and education in Finland. Valio's research and product development is largely founded on the research tradition based on the work of A. I. Virtanen.

‘Long term collaboration between the Department of Marketing and Valio focuses, for example, on consumer research and real-life teaching cases,’ explains Tikkanen. ‘Aalto University professors have also been active experts in Valio’s advisory boards.’

A. I. Virtanen (1895-1973) was a professor at the Helsinki University of Technology and later at the University of Helsinki. He was a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, an Academician and the first director of the Academy of Finland. In addition, he was the director of the research at Valio for half a century. The work of Virtanen combined scientific success with practical applications and successful new products, out of which AIV fodder is the best known. 

More information:

Henrikki Tikkanen, professor
henrikki.tikkanen@aalto.fi

Aalto University School of Business