Estonia

Alar Karis (President of the Republic of Estonia)

Alar Karis (born on 26 March 1958) is the sixth President of the Republic of Estonia, in office since 11 October 2021. He graduated from the University of Life Sciences (formerly Estonian Agricultural Academy) as a veterinarian in 1981. He earned a Master of Science degree in parasitology in 1987. In the intervening years, his research has focussed on molecular genetics and developmental biology. He has worked at universities in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and joined the University of Tartu as a professor in 1999. His research has been among the most widely cited internationally of any Estonian scientist of his generation.

President Karis served as the rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences from 2003-2007 and of the University of Tartu from 2007-2012. He has led the work of Universities Estonia (the national council of university rectors) a number of times. President Karis served as the Auditor-General of the Republic of Estonia from 2013-2018 and as the head of the EUROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (EUROSAI WGEA) from 2014-2018. He was the director of the Estonian National Museum from 2018-2021. Alar Karis is married and has three children.