Bogdan Pukszta, born in Poland, has resided in the Chicago, Illinois, area since 1982. He now acts as Executive Director of the Polish American Chamber of Commerce, a business association incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1994. Prior to his present occupation, for a number of years, Pukszta worked in higher education, managing foreign language programs and institutional international relations. He also

managed his own consulting practice, specializing in business planning, market assessment and multi- lingual and cross-cultural communication. In addition, he has acted as liaison and advisor in relation to international projects in Poland and elsewhere, and helped plan and chair a number of major international conferences.

In addition to the Polish American Chamber, which he helped found, his community involvement includes former presidency and board membership of the Polish American Economic Forum. He has also been involved in a number of other organizations, including the Association of International Education Administrators, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Chicago Chapter of the Warsaw, Poland – based Business Centre Club. His work to promote ties between the U.S. and Poland has been recognized by the Illinois Assembly, and in 2003, he was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by the President of Poland. In 2009, Mr. Pukszta was presented the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his distinguished contribution to cooperation between Poland and the U.S. Mr. Pukszta earned graduate degrees from the University of Silesia (English Philology), Poland, and from the University of Chicago (Public Policy Studies).