Iris Eliisa Rauskala (born 14 March 1978 in Helsinki) is a Finnish-born Austrian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and economist who served as Minister of Education, Science and Research in the

Bierlein government The Bierlein government (german: Bundesregierung Bierlein) was the 32nd Government of Austria following the collapse of the First Kurz government headed by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in the aftermath of the Ibiza affair. Sworn in on 3 June 2019, t ...

Life

The daughter of a Finnish scientist and an Austrian civil servant, Rauskala was born in Helsinki, where she lived until the age of five. She is married and openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. She studied international economics at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

and completed a doctorate in 2006. Rauskala then joined the civil service in the

Ministry of Economy A ministry of economy, ministry of commerce, ministry of economic affairs or department of commerce is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the economy or economic policy. List Examples of such mini ...

and later the science ministry, working under ministers Johannes Hahn,

Beatrix Karl Beatrix Karl (born 10 December 1967) is an Austrian academic and politician. A former member of the National Council, she served as Minister for Science and Research (2010–2011) and as Minister of Justice (2011–2013) in the first Faymann go ...

and . She taught at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences from 2011 until she was appointed to a highly ranked position in the education ministry in 2015. She is deputy chairperson of the

Austrian Science Fund The Austrian Science Fund (german: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, FWF) is the most important Austrian funding organization for basic research. The FWF supports research in science, engineering, and the humanities through a ...

board of supervisors. On 3 June 2019 she was sworn in as Minister for Education, Science and Research in the interim government of

Brigitte Bierlein Brigitte Bierlein (; born 25 June 1949) is an Austrian former jurist who served as Chancellor of Austria from June 2019 to January 2020. An Independent, she was the first female Chancellor of Austria. Bierlein served as the advocate general of t ...

. She was described as popular and "extremely dynamic".

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people Finnish emigrants to Austria Government ministers of Austria Women government ministers of Austria Austrian women economists Austrian LGBT politicians Austrian lesbians Lesbian politicians University of Innsbruck alumni 21st-century Austrian economists 21st-century Austrian women politicians LGBT government ministers 20th-century Austrian LGBT people 21st-century Austrian LGBT people {{austria-politician-stub