Honours go to folklorist and cell and molecular biologist
Professors Anna-Leena Siikala and Erkki Ruoslahti receive honorary title of Academician
12 June 2009
President of the Republic Tarja Halonen has granted the honorary title of Academician of Science to Professor Emerita Anna-Leena Siikala and the honorary title of Foreign Academician of Science to Professor Erkki Ruoslahti. The letters of appointment were presented by the President in Helsinki today, on 12 June 2009.
Based on nominations by the Academy, the President of the Republic of Finland may confer the honorary title of Academician to highly distinguished Finnish or foreign scientists and scholars. The title of Academician can be held by no more than twelve Finnish scientists and scholars at a time. There are no restrictions on the number of foreign Academicians.
Academician Anna-Leena Siikala has forged an impressive and well-respected career as a scholar of cultures. She has studied the religious customs of aboriginal populations in northern Eurasia, shamanism, mythical and historical interpretations of Kalevala-metre poems as well as methods of researching oral tradition. She has also studied how an ethnic minority group uses its mythology and tradition in seeking to revive and maintain its own language and way of life under the dominance of mainstream culture.
The studies by Academician Siikala on the methods and theories of the poetry of oral tradition are considered pioneering. On her numerous field study trips she has compiled extensive materials not only in Finland but in the Pacific region as well as in Russia among Finno-Ugric peoples, the Udmurts, the Komi and the Khanti in Siberia.
Academician Siikala’s extensive production has contributed to strengthening the international standing of Finnish folkloristic research. Her work represents the absolute cutting edge in this field. She has been a major influence in the science policy field both in Finland and internationally, and she has been active in leadership positions in various humanities associations at home and abroad. She has served as Professor of Folkloristics at the universities of Turku, Joensuu and Helsinki, and as Academy Professor in 1999–2004.
Academician Erkki Ruoslahti has built his research career primarily in the United States. The main focus of his work has been on basic research in the field of cell and molecular biology. He has clarified various key mechanisms of cell function and opened up completely new insights into the aetiology and progression of cancer and several other diseases. He is one of the world’s leading researchers in his field.
Academician Ruoslahti’s international research career started in 1968 when he was appointed visiting researcher at the California Institute of Technology. In 1976, he moved to work permanently in the United States. Four years later he moved on to become Vice President for Research at La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation (now the Burnham Institute for Medical Research), where he was later appointed Director of Research and eventually President and CEO. He is currently a professor at the Burnham Institute at Santa Barbara University of California.
Ruoslahti is one of the world’s most cited researchers and one of the internationally most successful scientists originating from Finland. He has received highly prestigious science awards both in the US and elsewhere in the world.
Further information: Chair of the Academy of Finland Board and President of the Academy, Markku Mattila, tel. +358 9 7748 821 and +358 400 736 603.
Academy of Finland Communications
Maj-Lis Tanner
tel. + 358 9 7748 8347, +358 40 729 6736
maj-lis.tanner(at)aka.fi
www.aka.fi/eng