Eeva Leinonen
Born1958 (age 65–66)
Oulu, Finland
Known forPresident of Maynooth University
Vice-Chancellor of Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia
Children1
Academic background
Alma materDe Montfort University (as Leicester Polytechnic), University of Exeter, Aston University
ThesisAssessing the functional adequacy of children's phonological systems (1987)
Doctoral advisorPam Grunwell
Academic work
DisciplineLinguistics, psychology
President of Maynooth University
In office
1 October 2021 –
Preceded byPhilip Nolan
Vice-Chancellor of Murdoch University
In office
April 2016–September 2021
Preceded byRichard Higgott (and Andrew Taggart, acting)[1]
Succeeded byAndrew Deeks[2] (second of two interim heads)[3][4]

Eeva Kaarina Leinonen ([ˈe̞ːʋɑ ˈle̞i̯no̞ne̞n]; born 1958; sometimes Eeva Kaarina Leinonen-Davies)[5][6] is a Finnish educator and educational administrator. Since 1 October 2021, she has been president of Maynooth University in Ireland,[7] having previously headed Murdoch University 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 and pragmatics, and psychology, with research interests including aspects of autistic spectrum disorders, in addition to elements of higher education management and learning.

Early life and education

Leinonen was born in 1958[8] in Oulu, Finland, 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 as an exchange student.[9] She pursued higher education, the first in her family's history to do so, opting for UK institutions;[7] she commented later on the challenges involved in studying in a different linguistic environment.[10] She took her bachelor's degree, a B.Sc. in Linguistics and Psychology, at Aston University in Birmingham, followed by an M.Phil. at the University of Exeter; her dissertation, released in 1984, considered, as part of a textual analysis approach, the experience of Finnish learners of English.[6] She then joined the research team of Professor Pamela Grunwell, a specialist in Clinical Linguistics and Phonology at Leicester Polytechnic (later De Montfort University). She pursued a Ph.D. in Clinical Linguistics and her thesis, published in 1987, explored the phonological systems of children.[9][5]

Career

Teaching and management roles

Having started teaching and research at Hatfield Polytechnic in the late 1980s,[11] by the 2000s,[12] Leinonen was Professor of Psycholinguistics at what had become in 1992 the University of Hertfordshire; 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 in Finland, working with clinical linguistics.[13] In September 2009, after almost 20 years at Hertfordshire,[8] she joined the faculty at King's College London,[11] where she was Professor of Clinical Linguistics, and was also appointed vice-principal for education,[14] and deputy chairperson of the Academic Board.[15]

In 2012, Leinonen moved to Australia, going directly from King's to the wide campus of the University of Wollongong[16] in New South Wales, 80 km from Sydney, where she took up a role as deputy vice-chancellor, with overall responsibility for education.[17] 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.[16] From April 2016,[17] she moved to become vice-chancellor, the chief officer, of Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia,[18] 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.[1]

Murdoch University

Leinonen was the first female head of Murdoch University, established in 1973 as the second State university of Western Australia.[1] She took office on 4 April 2016, with the formal investiture, presided over by the Governor of Western Australia,[19] held later in the year.[20] In 2018, her salary, for a university of around 23,000 students, 750 academics and 999 general staff[21] was noted in the press as, at 755,000 Australian dollars, higher than that of Australia’s Prime Minister;[22] 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.[22][23]

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.[23] During the term of office, more than 100 faculty members were made redundant and a range of courses were discontinued, 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.[24]

Maynooth University

Leinonen was announced on International Women's Day,[25] in March 2021, as the successor to Philip Nolan as president of Maynooth University, County Kildare, Ireland.[26] 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 mid-2020 was followed by the selection of Maggie Cusack to lead the newly-formed Munster Technological University from 1 January 2021, the election of Linda Doyle at Trinity College Dublin, effective 1 August - and Leinonen's commencement was followed a week later by the full appointment of Kerstin Mey as head of the University of Limerick.[18][27]

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.[28]

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[29]
  • Leinonen, Eeva; Letts, Carolyn; Smith, Benita Rae / Children's pragmatic communication difficulties / UK: London and US: Philadelphia, 2000[30]

Personal life

Leinonen has a daughter, Niina, an anthropologist, who lives and works in London.[18] Her husband is Australian, and he and she moved to Australia partly to be with his aging parents.[10] 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.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Murdoch University Annual Report 2015. Perth, Western Australia: Murdoch University. 2016. p. 3. Professor Eeva Leinonen in 2016 as its first female Vice Chancellor ... Professor Andrew Taggart who so ably filled the role of Acting Vice Chancellor since October 2014
  2. ↑ "Murdoch University announces new Vice Chancellor". Murdoch University. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022. A distinguished academic leader who was educated in Western Australia has been appointed Vice Chancellor and President of Murdoch University. ... Professor Andrew J Deeks, President of University College Dublin, was tonight appointed by Murdoch University's Senate to lead the University.
  3. ↑ Pilat, Lauren (2 September 2021). "Murdoch University's interim vice chancellor resigns after one month in role". WAToday. Sydney Morning Herald Group. Retrieved 2 February 2022. Murdoch University interim vice chancellor Romy Lawson has resigned after just over a month in the role
  4. ↑ "Senior Executive Team". Murdoch University. Perth, Western Australia. Retrieved 2 February 2022. The Vice Chancellor is the most senior executive position at Murdoch University – serving as both the principal academic officer and chief executive officer for the university. Professor den Hollander was appointed Interim Vice Chancellor in October 2021 while the University undertakes a global search and recruitment process
  5. 1 2 Leinonen-Davies, Eeva (1 March 1987). Assessing the functional adequacy of children's phonological systems. Leicester, UK: Leicester Polytechnic.
  6. 1 2 Leinonen-Davies, Eeva Kaarina (1984). Toward textual error analysis with special reference to Finnish learners of English. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter (Language Centre). Thesis (M.Phil.)
  7. 1 2 Casey, Jess (3 October 2021). "Education a 'social equaliser', says new university president". The Examiner. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  8. 1 2 National Library of Medicine (U.S.), 1965-1970. Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.: National Institutes of Health, U.S. 1992. p. 222. ... Leinonen, Eeva, 1958–
  9. 1 2 "Biography (Office of the President)". Maynooth University. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. 1 2 Powell, Sian (15 January 2019). "Lessons learnt, Leinonen resets her agenda". The Australian. Leinenon has a daughter and her husband has two children, all now adult and living in Britain / "I went from Finland to study in England. I was a very, very good student in Finland; then I went and started to study in a language other than my mother tongue. It was extremely hard."
  11. 1 2 "Professor Eeva Leinonen". Comment (The College Newsletter). No. 191. London, UK: King's College London. March 2010. p. 9.
  12. ↑ Leinonen, Eeva (1991). "5) Functional considerations in phonological assessment of child speech". In Yavas, Mehmet S. (ed.). Phonological disorders in children : theory, research, and practice. London, UK: Routledge. pp. vi. ISBN 0-415-05645-4.
  13. ↑ Ryder, Nuala; Leinonen, Eeva (7 January 2011). "Relevance Theory and Language Interpretation". In Guendouzi, Jackie; Loncke, Filip; Williams, Mandy J. (eds.). The Handbook of Psycholinguistic and Cognitive Processes: Perspectives in Communication Disorders. Hove, UK: Psychology Press. pp. xvii, 747. ISBN 9781136945243. professor of psycholinguistics and deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Hertfordshire ... private docent ... Oulu ... two books and various articles ... clinical pragmatics ...
  14. ↑ "Eeva Leinonen". Business News (Australia). Retrieved 1 February 2022. Prior to moving to Australia in 2012, Professor Leinonen held the position of Vice-Principal (Education) and Professor of Clinical Linguistics at King's College...
  15. ↑ Academic Board of King's College London - Minutes of meeting, 30 September 2009. London, UK: King's College London. 2009. welcomed new members of the Board to their first meeting: Professor Eeva Leinonen, Vice-Principal (Education) and Deputy Chair of the Board (which the Board approved)
  16. 1 2 Wachsmuth, Lisa (15 November 2012). "Finnish academic trailblazer joins UOW". Illawarra Mercury. Wollongong, NSW. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. 1 2 "Former Senior Officers". University of Wollongong. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  18. 1 2 3 Katherine, Donnelly (4 October 2021). "'I didn't bring a cookie cutter to shape the system', says new university president". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Investiture of new Murdoch Vice Chancellor". Murdoch University. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  20. ↑ Murdoch University Annual Report 2016. Perth, Western Australia: Murdoch University. 2017. pp. 4, 61.
  21. ↑ Murdoch University Annual Report 2018 (to Parliament). Perth, Western Australia: Murdoch University. 2019.
  22. 1 2 Duffy, Conor (2 September 2020). "Murdoch University staff the latest to feel pain with hundreds of jobs to go". ABC News. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 Styles, Aja (9 March 2021). "Murdoch Vice Chancellor Eeva Leinonen quits 'to be closer to family'". WA (Western Australia) Today. Perth. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  24. ↑ Styles, Aja (30 May 2021). "Murdoch Uni spends millions on pay rises and new logo as staff 'circle the drain'". Western Australia Today (WAToday). Retrieved 8 June 2022. deputy vice chancellor positions command half a million-dollar salaries ... Provost on upwards of $590,000 ... Vice Chancellor's ... nears the $1 million mark ... humanities or science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) found themselves demoted from academic researchers to teaching-only roles ... staff were still struggling to overcome the loss of more than 100 colleagues, with classes severely understaffed ... cancellation of the subjects in chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, biology, engineering, marine science, theatre, drama, religious and Indigenous studies
  25. ↑ Hilliard, Mark (8 March 2021). "Eeva Leinonen unveiled as next Maynooth University president". Irish Times, The. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  26. ↑ "Maynooth University pays tribute to retiring President, Prof. Philip Nolan". Maynooth University. Maynooth, Ireland. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  27. ↑ Donnelly, Katherine (8 October 2021). "University of Limerick appoints Professor Kerstin Mey as president for 10-year term". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2022. Prof Mey is now one of three female presidents of the seven traditional universities: Finnish native Professor Eeva Leinonen started as president of Maynooth University last week... Meanwhile, Prof Maggie Cusack was appointed inaugural president of Munster Technological University
  28. ↑ "Honours - Honorary Graduates". University of Aston. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  29. ↑ Smith, Benita (January 1991). "Clinical Pragmatics: Unravelling the Complexities of Communicative Failure". Vice-Chancellor's Unit. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Leinonen, Eeva; Letts, Carolyn; Smith, Benita Rae (2000). Children's pragmatic communication difficulties. London Philadelphia: Whurr. ISBN 9781861561572. OCLC 44737446.
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