Anna Valtonen Appointed Vice-Chancellor of Konstfack

The Swedish Government today announced the appointment of Professor Anna Valtonen as Vice-Chancellor of Konstfack, Sweden’s largest university of arts, crafts and design.

Currently professor of strategic design at Aalto University, Helsinki, Anna Valtonen previously served at Aalto as both Vice President of Art and Creative Practices and Dean of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. From 2009 to 2014, she was Rector of the Umeå Institute of Design and before that Head of Design Research & Foresight at Nokia. Valtonen will take up her new post at Konstfack on 1 August.

“Naturally, I am looking forward to starting at Konstfack!” says Valtonen. “In what is, to say the least, a turbulent world, it is even more important to be able to innovate and integrate art and design with other disciplines and stakeholders from a broader perspective. In doing so, it is vital that, together, we develop our own fields and create new knowledge, both in practice and research.”

In justifying its recommendation to the Swedish Government to appoint Valtonen, Konstfack’s Board of Governors noted that the university would be: “…gaining a vice-chancellor with broad expertise in research, leadership, innovation and development. Above all, it is her strategic and singular leadership, both in terms of developing an art school’s profile and in leading staff and developing teaching. In all her appointments, Anna Valtonen has been in line with how art, craft and design relate to and act in the surrounding community. Her art and design contribute to the ability of society to tackle major challenges. Both at Aalto and as a rector in Umeå, she was responsible for implementing and developing artistic research. Anna Valtonen has the qualifications and extensive national and international network that will be required to help Konstfack achieve its ambition of becoming a global leader among universities of art and design".