Michael Punke

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Michael Punke
United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization
In office
April 2010 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPeter Allgeier
Succeeded byDennis Shea
Personal details
Born (1964-12-07) December 7, 1964 (age 59)
Torrington, Wyoming, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseTraci Punke
Children2
EducationUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst
George Washington University (BA)
Cornell University (JD)
Occupation
  • Author
  • attorney
  • civil servant
Writing career
Period2002–present
GenreWestern
Notable workThe Revenant: A Novel of Revenge

Michael W. Punke (born December 7, 1964) is an American author, attorney, academic, and policy analyst. He is a former Deputy

Geneva, Switzerland. In 2017, he became vice president for public policy at Amazon Web Services
.

As an author, Punke is best known for writing The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge (2002), which was adapted into film as The Revenant (2015), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, with a screenplay by Iñárritu and Mark L. Smith, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

Early life and education

Punke was born and raised in

International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs.[2] He later attended and received his Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School, where he focused on trade law, and was elected to become editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.[1]

Career

Upon graduation from Cornell Law in the 90s, Punke worked as a government staffer for Senator

National Economic Council and the National Security Council.[5]

Work at the Office of the United States Trade Representative

In 1995–96, Punke became a Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (the USTR), where he advised them on issues ranging from intellectual property (IP) law to trade to agricultural law.[4] Punke has also worked on international trade issues from the private sector, including as a partner at the Washington, D.C., office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe, & Maw. From 2003 to 2009, Punke consulted on public policy issues out of Missoula, Montana.

In 2009, President

Geneva, Switzerland.[5] Obama's selection of Punke for this position was also confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2011.[6]

Private sector work

Punke has been a partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown, resident in the Washington, D.C. office and working on various matters involving international trade law. In the years of 2003 to 2009, Punke served as a consultant on various public policy matters and was also based in Missoula, Montana. In February 2017, Punke joined Amazon Web Services as Vice President for Global Public Policy.[7]

Writing

The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge

Punke is the author of

Park Chan-Wook and producers such as Megan Ellison were also attached.[1]

After Punke relocated with his wife Traci and their two children to

North Butte, Montana – Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 (2013).[1]

During his time as ambassador to the WTO, Punke was permitted to receive royalties from sales of his books, though he was prohibited from promoting them in any way, due to ethics policies preventing federal officials from self-enrichment. As his tenure coincided with the 2015 release of the film adaptation of The Revenant, he did not attend any public or promotional events related to the film. Instead, family members represented and spoke for him during that time.[2]

Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917

In 2006, Punke published a non-fiction book, via Hachette Books, that covered a mining disaster that occurred in North Butte, Montana during 1917. The book was a finalist for the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award. A reprint edition was also published in 2007. The book has received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and other sources.

Last Stand

HarperCollins published Punke's non-fiction book about saving the Buffalo – Last Stand – in 2007.[8] The subtitle of the book is "George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West."

Other writing work

Punke wrote the introduction to a contemporary reprint of Mari Sandoz's 1954 book, The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men. He was the historical correspondent for Montana Quarterly magazine.[8]

Television

Punke appeared in the 2023 Ken Burns documentary The American Buffalo.[9]

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-fiction

  • Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 (2006),
    ISBN 1401308899
  • Last Stand (2007)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Walter Bonner. "'The Revenant' Author Michael Punke Is The Most Successful Novelist Who Can't Talk About His Book". Maxim.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ben Terris. "Meet the author of 'The Revenant' — except you can't because of his federal job". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ "Michael Punke". Hachette Book Group.
  4. ^ a b "Ambassador Michael Punke, Deputy USTR, Office of the United States Trade Representative".
  5. ^
    The Missoulian
    .
  6. ^ "US Senate Committee on Finance, Press Release, Baucus Applauds Senate Confirmation of Trade, Treasury Nominees".
  7. ^ "Michael Punke's LinkedIn Profile".
  8. ^ a b "Michael Punke". HarperCollins.
  9. ^ https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-buffalo/about-the-filmmakers

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Punke.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization
2010–2017 		Succeeded by
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