Thomas Wilhelmsson is the Rector of the University of Helsinki. Before his appointment as Rector, Wilhelmsson held the post of Vice-Rector in charge of international and bilingual affairs for ten years.

Wilhelmsson has held the post of Professor of Civil and Commercial Law in the Faculty of Law since 1981. Earlier, he was Director of Legislative Affairs at the Ministry of Justice from 1979 to 1981. Wilhelmsson has also held the post of Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence "Foundations of European Law and Polity" and has led the doctoral programme of the Faculty of Law.

In his research, Wilhelmsson has focused on contract law, tort law and EU law. He has chaired various Finnish committees preparing new legislation and has worked as a member of committees preparing EU legislation.

Wilhelmsson graduated from the University of Helsinki as a Master of Laws in 1971, a Licentiate of Laws in 1973 and a Doctor of Laws in 1980.