Aino Sallinen is a professor and rector emeritus of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, whose main field of research is Finnish speech and communication culture.
In 1985, she was appointed to the first professorship in communication studies in Finland, and she was the second woman to become a university rector in the history of the Nordic countries. She served as rector of the University of Jyväskylä from 1992 to 2012. During her 20 years of office, she played an instrumental role in turning the University of Jyväskylä into an internationally acknowledged institution with respect to its remarkably high quality of education and research. The university is now involved in several exchange programmes, including ones for students and teachers as well, with over 300 destinations all over the world.
Professor Sallinen has held several significant positions in public life. For instance, she is one of the founding board members of FinnAgora, the Finnish centre for culture, science and economy based in Budapest. In appreciation of her merits, she has been awarded the chancellorship of the Order of the White Rose and that of the Order of the Lion of Finland.
Aino Sallinen has always been an outstanding supporter of Hungarian Studies and Hungarian culture. Thanks to her efforts, a professorship in Hungarian Studies and a position of Hungarian visiting professor at the University of Jyväskylä were established. It was the result of Professor Sallinen’s personal initiative that the highly popular bilateral student exchange programme between our universities was launched in 1994. The fruitful relationship between the twin cities of Jyväskylä and Debrecen has been enriched by nearly forty years of scientific and educational cooperation between the two universities.
She was awarded the title doctor honoris causa of the University of Debrecen in 2009.
