Eeva Kaarina Leinonen (; born 1958; sometimes Eeva Kaarina Leinonen-Davies)
is a Finnish educator and educational administrator. Since 1 October 2021, she has been president of
Maynooth University
Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...
in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
having previously headed
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...
in Australia.
An academic leader and professor of many years standing in a number of third level institutions, Leinonen works in the areas of linguistics, especially
clinical linguistics Clinical linguistics is a sub-discipline of applied linguistics involved in the description, analysis, and treatment of language disabilities, especially the application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology. The study of ...
and
pragmatics
In linguistics and the philosophy of language, pragmatics is the study of how Context (linguistics), context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship ...
, and psychology, with research interests including aspects of
autistic spectrum
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
disorders, in addition to elements of higher education management and learning.
Early life and education
Leinonen was born in 1958
in
Oulu
Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, one of three children of working-class parents. She and her brothers grew up and attended school there, though she did take a year in
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
as an exchange student.
She pursued higher education, the first in her family's history to do so, opting for UK institutions;
she commented later on the challenges involved in studying in a different linguistic environment.
She took her bachelor's degree, a B.Sc. in Linguistics and Psychology, at
Aston University
Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, followed by an M.Phil. at the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
; her dissertation, released in 1984, considered, as part of a textual analysis approach, the experience of Finnish learners of English.
She then joined the research team of Professor Pamela Grunwell, a specialist in Clinical Linguistics and Phonology at Leicester Polytechnic (later
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...
). She pursued a Ph.D. in Clinical Linguistics and her thesis, published in 1987, explored the phonological systems of children.
Career
Teaching and management roles
Having started teaching and research at Hatfield Polytechnic in the late 1980s,
by the 2000s,
Leinonen was Professor of Psycholinguistics at what had become in 1992 the
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...
; she was also appointed as deputy vice-chancellor there. For part of the same period, she was a
private docent - a scholar with the equivalent of two doctoral theses - at the
University of Oulu
The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...
in Finland, working with clinical linguistics.
In September 2009, after almost 20 years at Hertfordshire,
she joined the faculty at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
,
where she was Professor of Clinical Linguistics, and was also appointed vice-principal for education,
and deputy chairperson of the Academic Board.
In 2012, Leinonen moved to Australia, going directly from King's to the wide campus of the
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...
in
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, 80 km from
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, where she took up a role as deputy vice-chancellor, with overall responsibility for education.
Succeeding a 42-year veteran academic leader, and joining a new vice-chancellor, Paul Wellings, Leinonen outlined plans to work on student university life, digital learning and community outreach and participation.
From April 2016,
she moved to become vice-chancellor, the chief officer, of
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...
in Perth,
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
,
after the previous vice-chancellor,
Richard Higgott, had departed in October 2014 in controversial circumstances, to be replaced by an acting head, Andrew Taggart, from 2014 to 2016.
Murdoch University
Leinonen was the first female head of Murdoch University, established in 1973 as the second State university of
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
.
She took office on 4 April 2016, with the formal investiture, presided over by the Governor of Western Australia,
held later in the year.
In 2018, her salary, for a university of around 23,000 students, 750 academics and 999 general staff
was noted in the press as, at 755,000 Australian dollars, higher than that of Australia’s Prime Minister;
the salary rose to 930,000 AUD by 2019, even as staff cuts (the main union feared at least 200 job losses) and a 25 million AUD salary saving were sought.
The university's chancellor, its ceremonial chairperson, praised Leinonen's work when he announced her plans to move to Ireland, but there were also some controversies during her term, most notably around the cessation of most science, technology and mathematics studies as separate degrees in an initiative called "STEM Everywhere", a long-term major increase in online lecturing beyond Covid provisions and the termination of courses in Bahasa Indonesian and other topics.
During the term of office, more than 100 faculty members were made redundant and a range of courses were discontinued, including Australian Indigenous Studies and the long-standing Theology programme, which drew some criticism, with staff complaining of a lack of resources to teach scheduled classes, and of funding issues, while the few top executives of the university were awarded extremely high salaries.
Maynooth University
Leinonen was announced on
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
,
in March 2021, as the successor to Philip Nolan as president of
Maynooth University
Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...
,
County Kildare
County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
, Ireland.
She served at Murdoch University for another six months, taking office at Maynooth on 1 October 2021. She became the first female leader of the university, and the third woman to take the full leadership role of an Irish university in the span of under 15 months - an interim appointment at the
University of Limerick
University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...
mid-2020 was followed by the selection of
Maggie Cusack
Maggie Cusack is a Scottish academic and administrator who has been the inaugural president of Munster Technological University since 1 January 2021. She was previously Professor of Biomineralisation at the School of Geographical and Earth Scien ...
to lead the newly-formed
Munster Technological University
Munster Technological University (MTU; ) is a public technological university consisting of six campuses located in Cork and Kerry. The university was established in January 2021, the result of a merger between two institutes of technology, ...
from 1 January 2021, the election of
Linda Doyle
Linda E. Doyle is an Irish academic and educator who is the 45th Provost of Trinity College Dublin, the university's chief officer, having assumed the office in August 2021. An electrical engineer, she has had a long academic career at Trinity ...
at
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, effective 1 August - and Leinonen's commencement was followed a week later by the full appointment of
Kerstin Mey
Kerstin Mey (born 1963) is a German academic and president of the University of Limerick. She was the first woman to head a university in Ireland, on an acting basis, and having participated in an international competition, was appointed to th ...
as head of the University of Limerick.
Recognition
Leinonen was awarded an honorary degree, D.Sc. (H.C.), for her services to education, by one of her almae matres, Aston University, in 2018.
Publications
Leinonen has co-authored two books, and contributed articles to others, as well as to journals. The books are:
* Smith, Benita R. and Leinonen, Eeva K. / Clinical Pragmatics: Unravelling the Complexities of Communicative Failure / UK: Nelson Thornes, 1991
* Leinonen, Eeva; Letts, Carolyn; Smith, Benita Rae / Children's pragmatic communication difficulties / UK: London and US: Philadelphia, 2000
Personal life
Leinonen has a daughter, an anthropologist, who lives and works in London.
Her husband is Australian, and he and she moved to Australia partly to be with his aging parents.
With both her daughter and his two children based in the UK, they were visiting there regularly and she stated that one reason for moving to Ireland was to be nearer all three children, as Australia was no longer a single flight away.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinonen, Eeva
1958 births
Date of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Academics of the University of Hertfordshire
Academic staff of the University of Wollongong
Alumni of Aston University
Alumni of De Montfort University
Alumni of the University of Exeter
Finnish educationalists
Finnish women academics
Finnish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Finnish expatriates in Australia
Finnish expatriates in Ireland
Vice chancellors of Murdoch University
People associated with Maynooth University
Professorships at King's College London