Professor Vilho Väisälä (1889-1969) was Vaisala’s founder and long-time managing director. Vaisala was Vilho Väisälä’s life work. He was a talented inventor of meteorological instruments and an esteemed scientist in his field. Vilho Väisälä, also known as the "Prof" among Vaisala employees, established the fundamental guidelines of Vaisala operations. These guidelines - creativity, respect for quality, devotion to work, pride in professional skills and belief in one's own abilities - are still honored at Vaisala today.

Academic and professional background

Väisälä took his university degree and doctorate in mathematics. In 1912, he obtained an MSc degree with a major in mathematics from the University of Helsinki. After obtaining a Licentiate’s degree from the University of Helsinki in 1918, he graduated with a PhD in 1919. Väisälä’s doctoral thesis was in the field of mathematics and dealt with the uniqueness of the inverse function of an elliptic integral of the first kind.

In 1912, Vilho Väisälä began his 36 years of employment at the Central Meteorological Institute. First employed as an assistant and magnetist in 1912-1919, Väisälä carried out magnetic measurements in various parts of Finland. In 1916 he was appointed head of the Ilmala kite station and was named director of the aerological department in 1919. Väisälä made a number of improvements in the kite method used for studying the atmosphere. Additionally, he constructed many other devices, such as a stathoscope and an anemograph. Prof. Väisälä retained this interest throughout his life – he produced over one hundred scientific papers and a total of ten patented inventions.

Thorough radiosonde development and testing

In early 1931, Prof. Väisälä undertook the planning and construction of a Finnish radiosonde. Väisälä’s fundamental idea was to use the variable capacitance principle for radiosonde sensors. The historic first flight of the Väisälä radiosonde took place on 30 December 1931. The new radiosonde was presented to the international meteorological community in 1935, and in 1936, the instrument was already considered to be suitable for routine meteorological use. Being simple, reliable and moderately priced, the Väisälä radiosonde’s structural features were considered excellent from the standpoint of usage and production. The Vaisala radiosonde naturally aroused great attention. Before long, the Finnish radiosonde was adopted in all Scandinavian countries. Manufacturing was transferred to the premises of a factory established by Prof. Väisälä. The first delivery of a radiosonde to the USA took place on 30 July 1936.

Aerological development work

Vilho Väisälä had a strong theoretical knowledge of aerology and its problems as well as experience in the construction of high-quality scientific measurement devices. His name is inseparably linked to the development of aerological instrument techniques, not only in Finland but also in the international field. Apart from his duties as an official in a scientific research institute and a university lecturer, Prof. Väisälä’s contribution to scientific collaboration in his field was extensive and enduring.

The most important factor from the standpoint of the development of his radiosounding system was Väisälä’s ability to perceive new needs and problems everywhere and his willingness to discover new solutions. He carried out his most significant work as a developer and inventor of meteorological instrument techniques and manufacture. Up to the time of his death, he acted as managing director of Vaisala.