President Joe Biden has announced his intent to appoint Indian American entrepreneur and businessman Sunil Puri as a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts

FREMONT, CA: PACA members act as ambassadors and Kennedy Center representatives for the arts across the country, founded in 1958 by President Eisenhower. Indian-born Puri founded First Midwest Group, a firm that develops residential, commercial, and industrial properties. FMG has expanded into the hotel, restaurant, self-storage, and gaming businesses since its inception in 1984.

Sunil Puri has been involved in venture capital and other private equity investments in the United States, Africa, South America, and Asia for more than two decades, according to a White House statement released Friday. Puri, who immigrated to the United States in 1979, has long been a proponent of social justice and immigration problems and previously served on President Barack Obama's White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Puri Family is also involved in philanthropy, as seen by establishing the Puri School of Business at Rockford University in 2014.

In his official bio, Puri is credited with helping propel his community into the 21st century by creating jobs, developing vacant land into opportunities, and igniting community involvement. He came to America with USD140 and a dream. Currently, he is leading First Midwest Group into new growth and opportunities. He is proud of all the achievements he and his company has accomplished. Puri has also founded the Golden Apple Award, was on the board of Rockford Area Economic Development Council, and contributes annually to more than 75 non-government organizations. As part of his efforts to promote local education, he has helped build Rockford Christian and Rockford Lutheran schools.

Puri has most recently aided the worldwide micro-enterprise Water For Dignity, which delivers water to over 7,000 people in India's most desert region. Puri graduated from Rockford College with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1982. In 2013, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Rockford University.