The University of Tampere meant everything to Yrjö Silo. He had a tight rein on the university’s financial administration for two decades, and he could not always bring himself to leave the university even for the duration of his statutory summer holiday.

Silo bore a heavy responsibility in the late 1960s and the early 1970s when the University of Tampere, which was a private institution, ran into some financial difficulties. This gave rise to debate about nationalising the university. The director of administration negotiated the terms of the nationalisation process and the post-nationalisation status of the staff with the Ministry of Education. The University of Tampere became a state university in 1974.