Erkki Oja (born 22 March 1948 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) is a Finnish

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

and Aalto Distinguished Professor in the Department of Information and Computer Science at Aalto University School of Science. He is recognized for developing Oja's rule, which is a model of how neurons in the brain or in artificial neural networks learn over time.

Education and career

Oja was born in Helsinki and studied at Helsinki University of Technology, where he received his diploma engineer in 1972, licentiate in technology in 1975 and

Doctor of Technology The Doctor of Technology (abbreviated variously in different countries) is a degree normally conferred upon candidates after having completed a course of study in technology and a dissertation or a project of lengthy duration in a technologically r ...

in 1977. He was a research associate at the Center for Cognitive Science at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

between 1977 and 1978 and a research fellow at the

Academy of Finland The Academy of Finland ( fi, Suomen Akatemia, sv, Finlands Akademi) is a governmental funding body for scientific research in Finland. It is based in Helsinki. Yearly, the Academy administers over 260 million euros to Finnish research activities. O ...

from 1976 to 1981. Since 1981, he took up a professorship in applied mathematics at Kuopio University (now

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

). He was a visiting research scholar at

Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as ...

from 1983 to 1984. From 1987 to 1993, he was a professor in computer science at the Lappeenranta University of Technology. He moved back to the Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) from 1993 as a professor in computer science. He retired in 2015.

Honors and awards

Oja is a Fellow of the

International Association for Pattern Recognition The International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), founded in 1978 by Purdue University computer scientist King-Sun Fu, is an international association of non-profit, scientific, or professional organizations (being national, multi-natio ...

and the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, and a member of the

Finnish Academy of Sciences The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

. He served as chairman of the

European Neural Network Society The European Neural Network Society (ENNS) is an association of scientists, engineers, students, and others seeking to learn about and advance understanding of artificial neural networks. Specific areas of interest in this scientific field include ...

between 2000 and 2005, and as the chairman of the

’s Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering between 2007 and 2012. He was awarded the Frank Rosenblatt Award for his contributions to artificial intelligence research in 2019. Oja was a member of the Board of Governors for the International Neural Network Society (INNIS) in 2003. He received honorary doctorates from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

and Lappeenranta University of Technology in 2008.

Bibliography

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References

1948 births Living people Finnish computer scientists Members of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters Fellows of the International Association for Pattern Recognition Fellow Members of the IEEE Machine learning researchers Aalto University alumni Academic staff of Aalto University Brown University people Academic staff of the University of Eastern Finland Academic staff of Lappeenranta University of Technology {{finland-bio-stub