<div>Indian-American Arun M Kumar has been nominated by President Barack Obama to a key administration post, giving him charge of international trade at a critical juncture when the US is looking to increase its export.</div><div> </div><div>Arun M Kumar, till recently a partner and member of the Board of Directors at consultancy firm KPMG, was nominated on 4 October, by Obama to be the Assistant Secretary and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce.</div><div> </div><div>"The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people," Obama said as he announced nomination to several other key administration positions.</div><div> </div><div>"I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come," he said.</div><div> </div><div>Kumar joined KPMG in 1995 as a Finance Management Leader.</div><div> </div><div>and from 2005 until his retirement in September 2013, he led the firm's West Coast Finance Management Consulting practice.</div><div> </div><div>He also led the firm's US-India practice from 2007 to 2013.</div><div> </div><div>Kumar received a Bachelors degree in Physics from the University of Kerala in India, and an S M in Management from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.</div><div> </div><div>From 1993 to 1995, he was the founder and CEO of Planning & Logic, Inc, a software company. Prior to that, he was co-founder and CFO of Netlabs, Inc from 1991 to 1993; the CFO of Elite Microelectronics, Inc from 1990 to 1991.</div><div> </div><div>He also held important positions in several organisations from 1980 to 1990.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>(PTI)</div>
