38 Notable alumni of University of Tampere

Timo Sirainen, born 1979, is a Finnish programmer also known under the handles "cras" and "tss". Sirainen is the original author of the IRC-client Irssi and the POP/IMAP server Dovecot. Sirainen lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Riitta Myller is a Finnish politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP). She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which is part of the Party of European Socialists, and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

Pirjo Anneli Ala-Kapee-Hakulinen is a Finnish politician who was the minister of education in the fourth cabinet of prime minister Kalevi Sorsa from 1986 to 1987. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was also a member of the Finnish Parliament from 1979 to 1989.

Jouko Jääskeläinen is a Finnish politician representing the Christian Democrats.

Cynthia M. Grund is an American philosopher and educator who, as of August 2016, is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Denmark, where she is also Research Director for The Aesthetics of Music and Sound project.

Kari Juhani Rajamäki is a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party and a former Minister of the Interior.

Esko-Juhani Tennilä was a Finnish leftist politician from Lapland and member of Parliament since 1975 until 2011.

Tarja Katarina Filatov is a Finnish politician who serves in the Parliament of Finland for the constituency of Häme as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. She was Minister of Employment in the cabinets of three prime ministers from 2000 to 2007.

Osmo Antero Wiio was a Finnish academic, journalist, author and member of the Finnish Parliament. He is best known for his somewhat facetious Wiio's laws around communication, succinctly summarized as "Communication usually fails, except by accident".

Sari Marja Hannele Tanus is a Finnish doctor and politician, representing the Christian Democrats in the Parliament of Finland since 2015. She was elected to the Parliament from the Pirkanmaa constituency in the 2015 elections with 2,592 votes.

Hannu Himanen is a Finnish diplomat. He was the Finnish Ambassador to Russia in Moscow from 1 May 2012 to August 2016 and retired shortly after the post to Moscow.

Pia Viitanen is a Finnish politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party. She was the Minister of Culture and Housing in Alexander Stubb's cabinet.

Yrjö Oskar Ruutu was a Finnish social scientist and politician. Ruutu was the first principal of the School of Social Sciences (current University of Tampere) 1925–1932, 1935–1945 and 1949–1953, and the first Finnish professor of International relations 1949–1954. Ruutu was the first in Finland to defend his doctoral thesis on social sciences and wrote the first Finnish presentation on international...

Jüri Allik, is an Estonian psychologist.

Kai Jürgen Mikael Sauer is a Finnish diplomat. He is the Ambassador of the Embassy of Finland to Germany. Prior to this he served four years as the Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Oras Tynkkynen is a Member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Green League. Tynkkynen was the chair of the Green parliamentary group. He served as Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's Advisor on Climate Policy. Also Tynkkynen is a Member of the City Council of Tampere and an environmental activist. He has also held positions in numerous other organisations, such as...

Emmi Elina Itäranta is a Finnish novelist. Her debut novel Memory of Water was published by HarperCollins in 2014.

Juha Tapani Rehula is a Finnish politician and the vice chairman of the Finnish Centre Party. Rehula worked as the Minister of Social Affairs and Health in Finland between 2010–2011 and Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services 2015–2017. He was a member of the Finnish Parliament from 1996 until 2019.

Sirkka-Liisa Anttila is a Finnish politician and was the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet and Mari Kiviniemi's cabinet. She represents the Centre Party.

Toimi Olavi Kankaanniemi is a Finnish politician, born in Tyrvää. Kankaanniemi was the Chairman of the Finnish Christian Democrats from 1989 to 1995. In 1994, he was a candidate for President of Finland, finishing ninth of eleven candidates. He served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 1987 to 2011. Kankaanniemi was also a minister in the cabinet of...

Eeva Elisabeth Joenpelto, married name after 1945 Hellemann, was an award-winning Finnish novelist. Her writing is especially remembered for the Lohja tetralogy which depicted strong women. Described as a "productive novelist of monomaniacal intensity", she occasionally wrote under the pseudonyms of Eeva Helle and Eeva Autere. Joenpelto was President of PEN Finland in 1964-67 and worked as an art professor...

Mika Tapani Lintilä is a Finnish politician who served as Minister of Economic Affairs from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Centre Party, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1999. Lintilä has formerly served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Sipilä Cabinet from 2016 to 2019 and as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister...

Sinikka Marianna Nopola was a Finnish writer of children's literature who published nearly 80 books since 1987. Nopola is best known for the series Hayflower and Quiltshoe and Ricky Rapper she wrote with her sister Tiina Nopola.

Sirpa Kähkönen is a Finnish novelist and translator. Initially writing for young adults, she gained popularity in Finland with her Kuopio series of historical novels.

Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish science fiction and fantasy writer. Since starting her writing career with science fiction and fantasy short stories, she has become a prominent figure in Finnish literature scene, and in 2022 was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal, a special decoration of The Order of the Lion of Finland, awarded to artists and authors in recognition of...

Aki Olavi Kaurismäki is a Finnish filmmaker. He is best known for films such as Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), Drifting Clouds (1996), The Man Without a Past (2002), Le Havre (2011), The Other Side of Hope (2017), and Fallen Leaves (2023).

Jyrki Tapani Katainen is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously prime minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and chairman of the National Coalition Party from 2004 to 2014. He was succeeded by Alexander Stubb as chairman of Finland's National Coalition Party. After...

Mikko Tapio Alatalo is a Finnish musician and politician.

Mika Petteri Aaltola is a Finnish political scientist and a member of the European Parliament. He is a former director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He has gained media attention since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he follows and regularly comments on. Aaltola holds a doctorate in social sciences. He works as docent at Tampere University, and...

Kari-Jukka Hietalahti is a Finnish actor and screenwriter.

Meeri Koutaniemi is a Finnish photographer and journalist. Koutaniemi is known for her reportages and portraits on issues concerning human rights, minorities and empowerment.

Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland three times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987. At the time of his death he still held the record for most days of incumbency as Finnish prime minister. He was also a long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

Riku Rantala is a Finnish journalist, best known from traveling series Madventures. He has also co-written a book, Isänmaan asialla - matkaopas syrjäytettyjen Suomeen (Johnny Kniga, 2004), with Ari Lahdenmäki. In 2007, Rantala, Lahdenmäki and Tuomas "Tunna" Milonoff, the 2nd of Madventures' presenters, published Madventures: Kansainvälisen seikkailijan opas (Johnny Kniga, 2007). The book is a guidebook for new travelers and...

Sampo Terho is a Finnish politician who served as Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports. He was the chairman of Suomalaisuuden Liitto and was earlier a Member of the European Parliament.

Jessikka Aro is a Finnish investigative reporter working for Finland's public service broadcaster Yle, specializing in Russia, extremism and information warfare. She is the author of the non-fiction books Putin's Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia's Information War Against the World and Putin's World War. Due to her investigations of pro-Russian Internet trolls and their influence on public debates outside...

Sanna Mirella Marin is a Finnish politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023. She was a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2023. She was re-elected as member of parliament in April 2023 but resigned to become a strategic...

Minja Koskela is a Finnish musician, author, politician, member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature, and chair of the Left Alliance. She has represented Helsinki since April 2023 as member of the Left Alliance.