Career
In 1970 Virtanen was affiliated with the University of Turku, where he became professor 1990 in cultural history. Virtanen has focused on the spread of American culture and the cultural exchange between the European and American cultures, which has resulted in a doctors dissertation Settlement or return (1979), were the return of Finnish emigrants from America is studied, and the voluminous study Atlantin yhteys (1988), which concerns the cultural relations over the Atlantic ocean 1776-1917.