The only place that has a larger Lithuanian population than the Chicago area is Lithuania itself.

Dr. John Prunskis, born and raised in Chicago after his parents fled the former Soviet Union, wears two hats for the now independent democracy.

Prunskis is one of three Americans elected as a member of the World Lithuanian Community Commission of the Lithuania Parliament, in essence representing the U.S. Lithuanian population. He also is an honorary consul for Lithuania, acting as a diplomat at the appointment of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department.