Leszek Balcerowicz (born 1947); economist, and Former President of the National Bank of Poland (NBP); Professor of Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics, 1992; MBA at St. John's University in New York, 1974; he is the architect of economic reforms initiated after the fall of communism in Poland; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the first non-communist government in Poland after II World War; author of more than 100 publications on economic issues in Poland and abroad; recipient of numerous honors from universities and awards worldwide; awarded with Poland's highest decoration - Order of the White Eagle - for his contribution to the system transformation (2005).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, 1989-1991 & 1997-2000; president of the Freedom Union, a free market - oriented party, 1995-2000; chairman of Council of the Foundation and Advisory Council of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) based in Warsaw, 1992-2000; President of the National Bank of Poland, 2001- 2007.

Awarded the Ludwig Erhard Prize from the Ludwig Erhard Foundation, Germany (1992); received "Finance Minister of the Year" title from the British financial monthly "Euromoney" (1998); in 1999 European Institute of Washington granted him "Transatlantic Leadership Award" for the most outstanding European personality in 1998; received the Central European Award for the Finance Minister of the Year 1998 in Central and Eastern Europe; awarded the Friedrich von Hayek Prize, Germany (2001); in the same year he received the Carl Bertelsmann Prize for his achievements during the process of transformation of the Polish economy; in 2002 the Fasel Foundation honoured him

with a prize for his merits for the social market economy; in 2004 British monthly "The Banker" recognized Leszek Balcerowicz as central banker of the year for Europe; in the same year he was granted the annual "Emerging Markets Award" for the best president of a central bank in Central and Eastern Europe.

Since 2006 Leszek Balcerowicz has belonged to the Distinguished Associates of the International Atlantic Economic Society (IAES); the same year he became a member of the prestigious Group of Trustees, Institute of International Finance; a Corresponding Member of the History and Philosophy Class of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Leszek Balcerowicz has given many lectures and seminars world-wide. He received honorary doctorates from the following universities: the University of Aix-en-Provence, France, the University of Sussex, UK, De Paul University of Chicago, USA, the University of Szczecin, Poland, Staffordshire University, UK, Mikolaj Kopernik University of Torun, Poland, Dundee University in Scotland, the Economic University in Bratislava, Slovakia, Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, University of the Pacific in Lima, Peru, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University in Iasi, Romania, the Gerhard Mercator University in Duisburg, Germany, the Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice, the Poznan University of Economics, and the Wroclaw University of Economics, Poland.

Selected publications: Socialism, capitalism, transformation, 1995. Freedom and Development: the economics of free market (in Polish), 1995. Post-communist transition: some lessons, 2002. Toward a limited state, 2003.