The Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu) appointed  Dr Alar Karis as Auditor General on 26 March 2013.

 

Dr Karis assumed office on 8 April 2013 by giving his oath of office to the Riigikogu. The term of office of the Auditor General is five years. 

 

Dr Karis was born in 1958 in Tartu. He graduated from the Estonian Academy of Life Sciences in 1981 and defended his degree in 1987. During his career Dr Karis has worked at several universities in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As a scientist his focus has been on molecular genetics. In 1999 Dr Karis became a professor at the University of Tartu.

 

Dr Karis has been actively involved in building up the Estonian state and society on a broader scale since the first half of the 2000s. As the Rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences from 2003-2007 and Rector of the University of Tartu from 2007-2012, he carried out several reforms in order to internationalise higher education in Estonia and broaden the horizons of both teaching and learning.

 

Dr Karis is a member of the Think Tank of the President of the Republic of Estonia, and has been a member of the Estonian Fund for Nature, the council of the European University Association and the council of the Enterprise and Living Environment Development Division of Enterprise Estonia. Until his appointment as Auditor General he was the head of the Estonian Rectors Conference, which unites the heads of Estonian institutions of higher education.

 

The President of the Republic bestowed the Order of the White Star, 4^th class on Alar Karis in 2007. He has also been awarded the Order of the Polar Star, 3^rd class of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Order of Leopold of the Kingdom of Belgium.

 

Alar Karis is married; his wife Sirje Karis is the director of the Estonian History Museum. They have three children.