[6] She then joined the research team of Professor Pamela Grunwell, a specialist in Clinical Linguistics and Phonology at Leicester Polytechnic (later De Montfort University).
[13] In September 2009, after almost 20 years at Hertfordshire,[8] she joined the faculty at King's College London,[11] where she was Professor of Clinical Linguistics, and was also appointed vice-principal for education,[14] and deputy chairperson of the Academic Board.
[15] In 2012, Leinonen moved to Australia, going directly from King's to the wide campus of the University of Wollongong[16] in New South Wales, 80 km from Sydney, where she took up a role as deputy vice-chancellor, with overall responsibility for education.
[17] Succeeding a 42-year veteran academic leader, and joining a new vice-chancellor, Paul Wellings, Leinonen outlined plans to work on student university life, digital learning and community outreach and participation.
[22][23] The university's chancellor, its ceremonial chairperson, praised Leinonen's work when he announced her plans to move to Ireland, but there were also some controversies during her term, most notably around the cessation of most science, technology and mathematics studies as separate degrees in an initiative called "STEM Everywhere", a long-term major increase in online lecturing beyond Covid provisions and the termination of courses in Bahasa Indonesian and other topics.
[23] During the term of office, more than 100 faculty members were made redundant and a range of courses were discontinued, including Australian Indigenous Studies and the long-standing Theology programme, which drew some criticism, with staff complaining of a lack of resources to teach scheduled classes, and of funding issues, while the few top executives of the university were awarded extremely high salaries.