Jacques Torczyner, born in Antwerp, Belgium, came to the United States in 1940 escaping Belgium after teh Nazi invasion. He became a member of the Zionist Organization of America. In July 1945 he joined 18 Jewish leaders at a special meeting called by David Ben Gurion inititating the movement of the Friends of the Haganah whcih organized support for the Jewish defense forces in Palestine.

He joined the campaign for the creation of the Jewish State led by Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and assumed top leadership when Dr. Silver became the President of Z.O.A. After the founding of the State of Israel, he served as a memeber of the RIfkind Committee and various Special Committees of the Jewish Agency charged with the task of evaluating the future of the Zionist movement. Mr. Torczyner served five consecutive terms as president of the Zionist Organization of America.

From 1974 to 1977 he was Chairman of the American section of the World Jewish Congress. From 1972 till 1998 he was member of the Executive of the World Zionist organization in charge of its Foreign Relations Department and the Herzl Institute, the only Adult education Institute of the World Zionist Movement.

Appointed a member of the American UNESCO Committee, he served on the Holderman Committee that decided that the U.S.A. would leave Unesco. Mr. Torczyner served on the American Team of Observers at Unesco. In 1992 he was appointed a Special Adviser to the Director General of Unesco, Mr. Federico Mayor.

Mr. Torczyner has widely lectured all over the world and written many articles on subjects concerning issues faced by the State of Israel and World Jewry.