I got involved in politics late at the end of 1970s, literally by popular demand. I got into the national parliament at the age of forty in 1983. It was a humanist and idealist who stepped into the parliament building that day. I was given plenty of scope for action, I was appointed to two committees, both close to my heart one for education and the other for defence, and there was more than enough to do for both. I was selected for Minister of Education and Science in 1991. As I saw it, the most important things to tackle in the University were to improve quality, increase international connections and pay attention to the teaching.

I graduated from Imatran yhteislyseo (Imatra Upper Secondary School) in 1961. I was utterly unaware of all things academic, but I did know that I was going to be a humanities undergraduate and that the University of Helsinki would be my choice. It is difficult to imagine a more enthusiastic student than I. The University is made by teachers with personality and courage. We were fortunate to be able to include creative self-expression and communication in our curriculum. My MA thesis on the 19th-century Finnish author Minna Canth as a depictor of the fin-de-siècle woman was excellent, so I expanded it into a Licentiate thesis and graduated in 1970.