Marcus Wallenberg Foundation donates 200 000 euros to Aalto University School of Business

Aalto University has received a significant donation from the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation. The donation is targeted at the fields of business and economics. Timo Korkeamäki, the Dean of the School of Business, warmly thanks the long-term supporter of the school: ‘We are very happy and grateful for this new donation. Donations reinforce the financial base of the school and help us develop our research and teaching to be of even higher quality.’

The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation was established in 1973. The purpose of the foundation is to promote education and research especially in business management. The foundation shares scholarships to high quality scientific research in the area of business management, or in the area that is otherwise key to business management. In addition to scholarships and grants, the foundation supports major scientific projects of high quality.

Numerous professors and researchers at Aalto University have received support from the Marcus Wallenberg foundation for their projects. One example of these is the long-term project of the Department of Management Studies ‘Location, Location, Location’, which studies the location of multinational companies in the changing world.

‘I thank the foundation for all the support that it has given to our school, our researchers and their research projects throughout the years. Without the support of the foundation, many high-quality and impactful research would not have been done,’ says Timo Korkeamäki.

In order to honor the long-term co-operation and support of the foundation, the School of Business established Marcus Wallenberg professorship in 2020. The field of the professorship is international business, and it is placed in the Department of Management Studies. Ilkka Niemelä, the President of Aalto University, appointed Professor Rebecca Piekkari to the professorship in recognition of her significant research achievements in the field of international business.

The Department of Management Studies ranks well in global university comparisons. For example, in the prestigious Shanghai Ranking comparison, Aalto University was ranked 31st in the field of management research in 2021. ‘What makes the Department of Management Studies as exceptional among top-level research units, is that it examines the change processes of different organizations using qualitative – not so much quantitative – research methods. Our best researchers are distinguished precisely as users and developers of qualitative methods,’ says Rebecca Piekkari.

‘With our long-term support, we have wanted to recognize the School of Business for the great work they have done, especially in the field of management and international business. With the new donation, we want to encourage the School of Business to continue on its great path,’ says Stefan von Knorring, the CEO of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation. ‘Marcus Wallenberg established the foundation to honor its good connections with Finnish business, and it is great that the School of Business shares this tradition by working closely with companies,’ continues von Knorring.

President Ilkka Niemelä is very happy about the new donation and thanks the foundation for its long-term support. ‘Donation funds enable the long-term development of the university and smooth out fluctuations in public finances. Donations given this year have special impact, as they accumulate matching funding for universities. My warmest thanks to the foundation for their donation!’

Matching funding is related to the government’s matching funding campaign, in which the government will distribute EUR 67 million to universities in proportion to the donations received by them in 2020–2022. The purpose of the campaign is to safeguard the solvency of universities. Donations made during the campaign give an extra multiplier to every euro donated during the campaign.

The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation participated in the campaign by donating a total of EUR 1,050,000 to ten business schools in Finland. Aalto University School of Business' share of this was EUR 200,000.

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