Professor Anna Valtonen has been appointed Dean of Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture and a member of the university’s Management Team. She will begin her five-year term of office on 1 March 2014, when Helena Hyvönen comes to the end of her term as dean.
Anna Valtonen is since 2009 Rector of the Umeå Institute of Design at Umeå University in Sweden.
Anna Valtonen completed a Doctor of Arts degree at the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2007 and served as a researcher and a Board member there. Her research has primarily focused on Finnish design history and on how design is used in organisations. She has also been a visiting researcher and professor at the ESSEC Business School in Paris, France.