Chicago Booth beefs up entrepreneurship

Chicago green energy entrepreneur Michael Polsky has given $8m to Chicago Booth to extend its centre for entrepreneurship. The sum is in addition to $7m given by Mr Polsky in 2002, and the entrepreneurship centre has been renamed the Polsky centre in recognition of the two gifts.

The additional $8 million is intended to develop entrepreneurship activities across the university, creating new ventures and helping to commercialise innovation. In particular, the money will be used to develop multi-disciplinary programmes and create space for collaboration between interdisciplinary teams from across campus.

Mr Polsky, a 1987 MBA graduate from Chicago, is founder and chief executive of Invenergy, North America’s largest independent privately-owned wind power generation company. Entrepreneurs lead the way in job creation, says Mr Polsky. “I am proud that we are investing further in our efforts to foster and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit among the entire University of Chicago community.”

The expansion of the centre will enable Chicago Booth students to work more closely with other parts of the university, says Sunil Kumar, dean of the school. “This gift will allow us to have more direct impact on the commercialisation of the university’s intellectual property.”

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