Michael Polsky: An Impact Story

Michael Polsky:

Energy touches all our lives. Energy is life. I started my birth business in 1985. It happened to be the right time because the regulation change in the United States that allow for private ownership of power plants, and this was right within area of my expertise. So I thought I can take a chance, and I did.

Michael Polsky:

When I was in Soviet Union, I really didn't understand what other opportunities would exist. I thought the whole United States would be like Las Vegas with all neon lights and fancy cars. I had a little bit culture shock coming in, but that was okay. I didn't come for neon lights. I came to really do my best. I was an engineer working in Chicago, but I always wanted to expand and diversify my knowledge and also potentially expand my opportunities because I thought that I could do more than I was doing.

Michael Polsky:

I started at Booth in 1982 as a part-time student in the Evening program. I was kind of in the middle of my AMB at Booth when I started my first business. What Booth gave me is foundations that I can later use when I started my own business, confidence that I can learn other things, not just be an engineer, but I can understand business side. I can understand economic issues. I can understand law.

Michael Polsky:

Last two decades, we've discovered that we can produce electricity from additional sources, particularly wind and solar. And that created enormous opportunities, not only in reducing cost, creating more diversity, but also in reducing environmental impacts. I never seen such a rapid pace of innovation. We went through a technical revolution. Now we're going in some way through energy revolution, which driven a lot by entrepreneurship.

Michael Polsky:

I always felt that entrepreneurship is the area that really was close to me, to my heart. When I heard that the University of Chicago looking to kind of formalize entrepreneurial program, I was on board almost immediately. I knew that giving to the University of Chicago would be very transformational because university has the capacity, it has the resources that really all can be part of this expanded entrepreneurial culture. I think that people understand that entrepreneurship and innovation really drives American economy. And I think University of Chicago needs to be university of the future where people will have not only strong academics, but also understand how to really make sure that their research would transform the real applications. Investment in Polsky Center for me personally had been probably the best investment, from every standpoint. When I all this results and interest that people have in the subject and how it creates opportunities, there's no more reward that I could have.