Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar was confirmed, by the U.S. Senate on March 13, 2014, as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service. In this role, Mr. Kumar leads the trade and investment promotion efforts for the U.S. Government. With offices in over 100 U.S. cities and in 72 world markets, he also serves as the International Trade Administration’s lead official advocating for better market access for U.S. exporters. Kumar has extensive global experience in the business world. Prior to his nomination by President Obama, he was a partner and member of the Board of Directors at KPMG, LLP. He led the firm’s West Coast Management Consulting practice serving major global clients as well as emerging Silicon Valley ventures while creating thought leadership to advance business practices in finance management. He also founded and led KPMG’s US-India Practice. Previously, Kumar was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, as founding CEO and CFO of three technology ventures in Silicon Valley, near his home in California. Over the years, he has been a mentor and advisor to a number of new ventures in Silicon Valley and India. Kumar served on advisory councils at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. An early Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley, he served on its Board. He also served on the Board of Directors of the US India Business Council. Kumar is the author of a book of poetry, Plain Truths, published by Current Books, 2010, and co-editor of Kerala’s Economy: Crouching Tiger, Sacred Cows, published by DC Books, 2007. Kumar received his master’s in management from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Kerala, India. He started his career in India as a member of TAS, the central management cadre of the Tata Group. Kumar and his wife Poornima have two sons, Ashvin and Vikram.