Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid.
Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He has held office in the Empresas Públicas de Medellín and in the Ministry of Labor and in the Civil Aeronautic. Later he held office as the mayor of Medellín in 1982, then he was Senator between 1986 and 1994 and finally Governor of Antioquia between 1995 and 1997 before he was elected President of Colombia in 2002.
Before his current role in politics Uribe was a lawyer. He studied law at the University of Antioquia and completed a post-graduate management program at Harvard Extension School. He was awarded the Simón Bolívar Scholarship of the British Chevening Scholarships programme and was nominated Senior Associate Member at St Antony's College in the University of Oxford after completing his term in office as the governor of Antioquia in 1998.
Early Life and Education
Uribe was born in Medellin, the oldest of five children. His father Alberto Uribe Sierra was a wealthy landowner. At the age of 10 his family left their Salgar ranch and moved to Medellín. He graduated in 1970 from the Jorge Robledo Institute. His academic performance exempted him from all final exams during the last two years of school.
Uribe studied law at the University of Antioquia and he graduated in 1977. He was an honor student during his time at the university. In 1993 he took a course in administration and management at Harvard University Extension School. Between 1998 and 1999 he studied at St Antony's College, Oxford University, England, on a British Chevening Simón Bolívar scholarship.
He is married to Lina Moreno and has two sons, Tomás Uribe and Jerónimo Uribe. Uribe's father was killed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas during a 1983 kidnapping attempt. After his father's death, Álvaro Uribe focused his political career and became a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served on the Medellín city council between 1984 and 1986.
From : www.wikipedia.org
