Academician Richard Villems is awarded the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 1st Class

Richard Villems, Professor of Archaeogenetics at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology of the University of Tartu, is one of Estonia’s most outstanding scientists of all time. His primary research areas have been molecular biology, molecular evolution, and population genetics.

In 1964, Richard Villems began studying RNA, proteins, and ribosomes in Laboratory 414 of the Chemistry Building at Tartu State University, working alongside Academician and Professor Artur Lind, the founder of molecular biology in Estonia. At the time, Villems was a medical student and became Artur Lind’s first student. The development of research and teaching in molecular biology led to the formation of the Tartu school of molecular biology in the 1980s.

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The photo from the private collection of Professor Andres Metspalu shows future academicians Richard Villems, Andres Metspalu, and Mart Ustav together with Professor Artur Lind in A. Lind's laboratory in 1982.

Since 1995, Richard Villems has focused on evolutionary biology, which later developed into the professorship of archaeogenetics. His scientific publications on the ancestry and migrations of peoples throughout different historical periods, the genetic origins of various populations (including Estonians), and the timing and locations of mutations marking genetic evolution have gained particular recognition.

Richard Villems graduated Tartu State University as a doctor in 1968. In 1972, he defended his Candidate of Sciences degree in biological chemistry at the same university. In 1984, Moscow State University awarded him a Doctor of Sciences degree in molecular biology.

In 1986, Richard Villems founded the Estonian Biocentre and served as its long-term director from 1986 to 2014. He has been a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences since 1987. From 2004 to 2014, he was the president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.