In Memoriam: Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro (1961–2025)

We are deeply saddened to announce that Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro, Academy Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and former Secretary General of the Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, passed away on Monday, May 26, after a long battle with cancer.

Professor Salmela-Aro was an esteemed scholar and a dedicated educator. She served on the Academy of Finland’s Strategic Funding Council and held visiting professorships at the Institute of Education, University College London; the School of Education, Michigan State University; the School of Education, University of California, Irvine; and the Australian Catholic University in Sydney. Earlier in her career, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin.

She led several major longitudinal studies funded by the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, and the European Union. Her research was prolific and influential, focusing on topics such as school engagement, burnout, optimal learning moments, the experience sampling method, and the life-span model of motivation and related interventions. She published over 300 scientific articles and delivered numerous invited keynote lectures around the world.

Professor Salmela-Aro also played a significant role in mentoring the next generation of scholars, supervising many PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Many of her mentees have gone on to receive prestigious awards and hold leadership positions in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.

Known to her friends as “Kata,” she is survived by her husband Antti Aro, her daughter, two sons, their partners, and two grandchildren. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and the many co-workers who had the privilege of collaborating with her throughout her distinguished career.

Frosso Motti

Professor Emerita, University of Athens, Greece.