Mr. J. Stephen Vanderwoude is Independent Director of First Midwest Bancorp Inc., since 1991. Mr. Vanderwoude is currently a private investor. From 1996 until April 2007, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Madison River Telephone Company LLC, a company that acquired and operated rural telephone companies. Prior to his service to Madison River, he served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Powerhouse Technologies, Inc., and President and Chief Operating Officer and a director of Centel Corporation. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Vanderwoude served as a member of the board of directors of Centennial Communications Corp and as its Chairman from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Vanderwoude earned a bachelors degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1977.