Contributor(s): Álvaro Uribe Vélez | Álvaro Uribe Vélez is the former President of Colombia, holding the office from 2002 to 2010. Mr. Uribe has a Law Degree from the Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia), and a post-graduate degree in Management and Administration from Harvard University. From 1998 to 1999 after being awarded the Simon Bolivar fellowship by the British Council in Bogotá, he worked as an associate professor at Oxford University. Mr Uribe began his political career in 1977 as Secretary General of the Ministry of Labour. From 1980 to 1982, he was head of the Civil Aviation Department. He was the mayor of his native city of Medellín in 1982 and later, from 1984 to 1986, he was elected city councillor. He was elected Senator for the periods 1986-1990 and 1990-1994. In 1995 he was elected governor of the department of Antioquia.