Marek Kamiński (born 24 March 1964 in Gdańsk) is a Polish political scientist and explorer. He is currently a professor political science at UC Irvine. He is the author of the book, Games Prisoners Play: The Tragicomic Worlds of Polish Prison, about his own experiences as a political prisoner. The book won the 2004 Distinguished Book Award from the European Academy of Sociology. He is claimed to have reached both the North and the South Pole in one year without outside assistance (the North Pole on 23 May 1995; the South Pole on 27 December 1995). Biography Kaminski obtained his philosophy and physics degrees at the University of Warsaw and completed the advanced management graduate program at the IESE Business School in Barcelona. He also studied philosophy in Hamburg. He led the first-ever expedition to the North Pole and the South Pole with a person with a disability (Jan Mela, who was 15 at the time). He has also crossed the Gibson Desert in Australia – a journey of in 46 days. During his "Third Pole" expedition along St. James’ trail, he travelled in 140 days from the tomb of Immanuel Kant in Kaliningrad, Russia, to the grave of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He has travelled by electric car from Poland to Japan through Siberia and the Gobi Desert. He was the first person to drive on the Trans-Siberian Highway in an emission-free vehicle. Kamiński is the founder of the ‘Power 4Change’ motivational method and the founder of the Marek Kamiński Foundation. The Marek Kamiński Institute and Invena. Lectures Kamiński has applied his experience in motivation to achieve seemingly impossible goals, as well as work-related to robots and artificial intelligence to give lectures at prestigious universities and conferences around the world. Publications Kamiński has authored 13 books covering his global treks and inward journeys. Some of these books have been translated in as much as 10 languages, winning numerous awards and becoming bestsellers. The Power4Change method An original motivational. It consists of 10 components, such as visualization, the path being more important than the end goal and getting to know oneself. The method was created based on Kamiński's experience in achieving difficult goals. The Power4Change method is delivered through workshops, training sessions and conferences for companies and individuals and through the "Power4Change" application, available in Poland and worldwide. Personal life He was brought up in Połczyn-Zdrój (Pomerania).