The head of the department, Esko Ukkonen, celebrated his 60th birthday. The celebration was held in Exactum at the end of January. The party was attended by employees of the Department of Computer Science and invited guests. The programme included both congratulatory speeches and songs, with a quartet from Wiipurilaisen Osakunnan Laulajat (the Viipuri students’ association singers) singing a song for a former active member. Esko was inspector in Kymenlaakson Osakunta (the Kymenlaakso students’ association) for over ten years.

Esko Ukkonen’s career at the Department of Computer Science began in 1972. The first year, he worked as a part-time teacher, and the following year he was already part of the research community. He took his Master’s degree in mathematics in ‘73. The same year he transferred to computer science and became a PhD student for Martti Tienari, the founder of the Department of Computer Science. After defending his thesis it took only a couple of years before he was conferred his first assistant professorship in 1981.

During his long academic career, Esko has also worked internationally: at Berkeley in the United States and at Freidburg in Germany. Professor Ukkonen was elected head of the department for the next four-year period starting in 2010.

At his own request, the money collected for his present was given to the Red Cross. Esko wants to thank you all for contributing to a good cause!

A really welcome present was the volume in honour of him made by his former students. The volume consists of some twenty research articles written by Professor Ukkonen’s former students and collaboration partners.

Once more, congratulations to Esko!