Finland’s former Prime Minister Esko Aho is leaving his position on Nokia’s leadership team for a job at Harvard University. He has been appointed as a Senior Fellow at the famous American university, where he will carry out research into the state’s role in maintaining global competitiveness and welfare.
The news that Aho is leaving his position as Nokia’s vice president for corporate relations and responsibility comes as the firm’s second high-profile resignation in as many months. Colin Giles, the phone maker’s vice president of sales, announced last month that he too will step down in June.
Aho, who became Finland’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of 36, led the Centre Party government through the recession years between 1991 and 1995. He spent a year as a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics after narrowly losing the presidential election to Tarja Halonen in 2000.
Aho has confirmed that he will continue to act as a consultative partner for Nokia.