Noted Energy Pioneer Increases Gift to Chicago Booth to $15 Million

CHICAGO - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Chicago energy entrepreneur Michael Polsky, who in 2002 donated $7 million to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to create the Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship, today increased his total gift to $15 million, the school announced. The additional $8 million will enable Booth's Polsky Center to serve as a venture creation engine for the entire University.

As a result of its expanded mission and the University's commitment to developing entrepreneurial and innovative leaders, the Center will now be called the Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Importantly, today's gift will create new multidisciplinary programs; provide resources and space for cross-campus interdisciplinary teams to collaborate on new venture development; and support the University's growing innovation initiatives.

"This gift will enable the Polsky Center to expand its mission of encouraging entrepreneurship, which drives our economy and is the core of the American spirit," said Polsky, a 1987 graduate of Booth's MBA program. Polsky is the founder and chief executive of Chicago-based Invenergy, a leading global clean energy company that is North America's largest independent privately owned wind power generation company.