Alar Karis is a member of the 1420 Tartu Rotary Club of the region (photo from the club’s website)
The Parliament of the Republic of Estonia elected the 1420 Tartu Rotary Club of the Rotary Region (Southern Estonia) as the new President of the Republic of Estonia
member Alar Karise. Rotary’s new vision is “We see a world where people join forces and work together to make lasting
change – all over the world, in your community and in yourself”. Isn’t that a good fit for every active member of society?
Yes, it certainly does. We are proud and wish the new President of the Republic of Estonia good luck and good luck in making the world a better place.
Such was the message about Alar Karis in September 2021.
Let’s get to know Alar Karis’ past a little and see what rotary portrays itself.
Alar Karis was born on March 26, 1958 in Tartu, graduating from Tartu 2 in 1976. Secondary school (Miina Härma Gymnasium)
and in 1981, the Estonian Agricultural Academy. Since 1987, he is a candidate of sciences.
He has since worked for several universities in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. As a scientist, focused on
he to molecular genetics and transgenic technology. Since 1999,
Karis Professor at the University of Tartu. Alar Karis’s research has been carried out during his period as an active researcher
have been among the most internationally cited of Estonian scientists. Alar Karis is the founder of the spin-off company Visgenyx of the University of Tartu.
Let’s dwell closer on the topic of his educational institutions:
Alar Karis (26. III 1958 Tartu), molecular developmental biologist, son of Harry Karis, veterinary candidate (1987, Minsk).
He graduated from the Estonian Agricultural Academy in 1981. In 1981–87 he was a member of the Estonian Institute of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Research
and 1987–93 researcher at the Estonian Biocentre, 1991 visiting researcher at the University of Hamburg, 1992 at the National Institute for Medical Research in London
Fellow of the Royal Society of London, 1993–96 researcher-project manager at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, 1996–98 University of Tartu (UT)
researcher at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and Phare expert, 1998 researcher at the UT Technology Center, from the same year
Head of the Department of Genetic Engineering, 1999–2003 Regular Professor of Special Zoology, 2003–07 Rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences,
since 2007 rector of UT. Founding member of the Estonian Gene Centre. Studied the entry of ribosome proteins into the cell nucleus,
the development and differentiation of hematopoietic cells, the regulation and function of transcription factors in mammalian embryonic development,
the molecular development of the mammalian nervous system, the application of transgenic organism technology in biomedicine, and
molecular genetic methods in zoology.
Since the first half of the 2000s, Alar Karis has been more broadly engaged in the work of the Estonian state
and society-building issues. From 2003 to 2007, Karis was a member of the Estonian University of Life Sciences
rector and in 2007-2012 rector at the University of Tartu, where he made several reforms to ensure that Estonia
internationalising the provision of higher education, broadening the horizons of both teaching and learning.
He has been a member of the President of the Republic’s think tank, a member of the board of the Estonian Fund for Nature, and a member of the Council of the Association of European Universities
member, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Development Fund, Advisory Board of the Business and Living Environment Development Division of the Enterprise Estonia Target Settlement
member, etc. Until his appointment as Auditor General, Alar Karis also chaired the Council of Rectors, which brings together the heads of Estonian institutions of higher education. Alar Karis is
has been a mentor to the National Audit Office of Nigeria, consulting the management of the supreme audit institution in the field of management.
Alar Karis was the Auditor General of the Republic of Estonia from 2013 to 2018. After the end of his five-year term, he transferred from
From 9 April 2018, he was in charge of the Estonian National Museum in Tartu, the competition for the head of which he had won on 20 October 2017, remaining in that position
8th October 2021, when he became President of the Republic.
Alari’s son Kristjan has been involved in the Silvergate or Reform Party scandal, being a young politician in Tartu at the time, yet none of them, including Kristen Mikhal, were taken into investigation, all the more astonishing since the independence of the prosecutor’s office suffered a serious setback in this particular case, since the minister of justice was the boss of the prosecutor’s office, Kristen Michal herself.
Quote from 10 years ago:
Kristjan Karis, a reform party member of Tartu council, revealed that he was the one who admitted in the prosecutor’s office that he received money from his mother-in-law as a donation to the Reform Party. It was a loan that has since been partially repaid.
An interesting fact is that until his appointment as president, Alar Karis had a relatively ugly smile, then now for a year and a half he has a so-called representative face with tidy teeth.
In addition, it cannot be overlooked that since Kristjan’s father, Alar, was a member of the Rotary Club for many years, it may have played a role in the fact that Kristjan Karis escaped the Silvergate scandal so easily. Finally, when Alar Karis boasted a year ago that he was a triple-vaccinated vaccine believer, how does it fit into the logic that, despite his solid protection, he was able to get infected? Didn’t the almighty Rotary help him then?
