Michael Peter Polsky

Background

Michael Peter Polsky was born on August 5, 1949, in Kyiv, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, to Peter and Basheva Polsky. He grew up in a Jewish family under the Soviet system and later described the political restrictions and antisemitism of that environment as important circumstances in his early life.

In 1976, Polsky and his wife immigrated to the United States as refugees. He arrived with an engineering degree, limited English, approximately $500, and four suitcases, beginning an American career that moved from power-plant engineering into independent energy entrepreneurship.

Education

Polsky studied mechanical engineering at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1973. The institute, founded in 1898, was one of the major technical institutions of the former Russian Empire and Soviet Ukraine and had a long tradition of educating engineers for industrial development.

While working in the energy industry, Polsky enrolled in the evening Master of Business Administration program at the University of Chicago in 1982 and graduated in 1987. The university's Graduate School of Business, now Chicago Booth, emphasized analytical management education and entrepreneurship; Polsky later endowed the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation there.

Career

Polsky began his career in Kyiv as a senior development engineer with Industrial Power Corporation from 1973 to 1976, working in the power-generation field before immigrating to the United States. He then worked as a mechanical engineer for Bechtel Power Corporation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1976 to 1978. Bechtel was a major American engineering and construction company whose power business designed and built large industrial and utility facilities.

From 1978 to 1980, Polsky was a senior application engineer with Brown Boveri Corporation in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Brown Boveri was a Swiss electrical-engineering company whose equipment and turbomachinery operations served industrial and power-generation markets. Polsky joined Fluor/Daniel in Chicago in 1980 as a product manager for cogeneration and remained there until 1985. Cogeneration, also called combined heat and power, produces electricity and useful thermal energy from the same fuel and became increasingly significant in the United States after the energy disruptions of the 1970s.

In 1985, Polsky co-founded Indeck Energy Services and became its president. Based in Wheeling, Illinois, the company developed and financed independent power-generating assets during the expansion of the nonutility power industry. He later founded Polsky Energy Corporation and SkyGen Energy in 1991 and led SkyGen as president and chief executive officer until its sale to Calpine Corporation in 2001. The transaction made Polsky a Calpine senior executive and board member while he continued as SkyGen's chief executive.

Polsky founded Invenergy in 2001 in Chicago and led the company as founder, president, and chief executive officer during its development into a major independent power and energy-infrastructure company. Invenergy develops, owns, and operates generation, storage, and transmission projects, including renewable and conventional energy facilities. On April 7, 2026, Invenergy announced a leadership transition in which Polsky became Executive Chairman and James Murphy became chief executive officer, allowing Polsky to continue directing company strategy and growth.

Polsky has also participated in environmental, educational, and civic institutions. He has served on the global board of directors of the World Resources Institute and has supported energy-transition research, entrepreneurship education, immigration services, health care, and climate innovation through philanthropic and board activities.

Achievements

• Polsky founded and developed three independent energy companies—Indeck Energy Services, SkyGen Energy, and Invenergy—helping expand privately developed power-generation infrastructure in the United States.

• Through Invenergy, Polsky helped build a large portfolio of renewable-generation, storage, conventional-generation, and transmission projects serving the changing North American energy system.

• Polsky endowed the Michael Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, later expanded as the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

• Polsky established major philanthropic initiatives supporting energy-transition research and leadership at the World Resources Institute and the University of Chicago.

Views

Polsky has expressed the view that entrepreneurship involves improving how existing ideas are implemented as well as creating entirely new inventions. His professional outlook links engineering, business formation, and large-scale infrastructure development.

He has argued that renewable energy will become increasingly important worldwide and has emphasized the need for transmission development and grid modernization so that new generation can reach consumers. His later energy-transition work reflects a pragmatic approach that considers reliability, affordability, technology, and environmental sustainability together.

Quotations: "To be an entrepreneur and innovator isn’t necessarily to invent something new that did not exist before; sometimes, it’s just to do things better than other people are already doing them."

Membership

Polsky has participated in professional, civic, educational, humanitarian, and environmental organizations. His professional affiliations include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Energy Engineers, while his civic memberships have included Chicago business and foreign-relations organizations.

His board service has included the World Resources Institute, the University of Chicago's business-school council, Children's Memorial Hospital, Children's Memorial Foundation, and HIAS Chicago. These organizations represent professional engineering, environmental research, higher education, health care, and assistance to immigrants and refugees.

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers , United States

• Society of Energy Engineers , United States

• Economic Club of Chicago , United States

• Executive's Club of Chicago , United States

• Standard Club of Chicago , United States

• Chicago Council on Foreign Relations , United States

• Member of the Global Board of Directors.

  World Resources Institute , United States

• Served on the school's council and entrepreneurship advisory structures.

  University of Chicago Graduate School of Business , United States

• Served on the board.

  Children's Memorial Hospital , United States

• Served on the board.

  Children's Memorial Foundation , United States

• Served on the board of the organization assisting immigrants and refugees.

  HIAS Chicago , United States

Personality

Polsky has described himself as strongly focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and practical execution. In public discussions of energy and business, he has emphasized improving existing approaches as well as inventing new technologies.

Quotes from others about the person

• University of Chicago leaders have credited Polsky's philanthropy with strengthening the university's teaching and research in entrepreneurship. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights recognized him as a 2022 Ripple of Hope Award laureate for leadership associated with social change and human rights.

Interests

• Entrepreneurship, energy innovation, renewable energy, climate sustainability, philanthropy, and immigration services.

Connections

Polsky is the son of Peter Polsky and Basheva Polsky. He married Maya on June 28, 1975; the marriage later ended in divorce. They have two children, Alan Polsky and Gabriel Polsky.

His professional and philanthropic connections include the University of Chicago, where he earned his MBA and later supported entrepreneurship education, and the World Resources Institute, where he has served on the global board. He also worked closely with Jim Murphy, who joined the founding team of Invenergy and became its chief executive officer in 2026.

Father:

Peter Polsky

Mother:

Basheva Polsky

child:

Gabriel Polsky

child:

Alan Polsky

Wife:

Maya

Married Michael Polsky on June 28, 1975; the marriage later ended in divorce.

References

• World Resources Institute biography of Michael Polsky Documents Polsky's roles as founder and Executive Chairman of Invenergy, member of the WRI Global Board of Directors, energy-industry career, philanthropy, and recognition.
• Invenergy history Describes Polsky's immigration from Ukraine, founding of Indeck Energy Services and SkyGen Energy, and the creation and development of Invenergy.
• Invenergy leadership announcement Announces Polsky's transition to Founder and Executive Chairman of Invenergy on April 7, 2026.
  2026
• University of Chicago Chronicle profile Documents Polsky's MBA education, early life in Soviet Ukraine, immigration to the United States, engineering career, founding of Indeck and SkyGen, and gift establishing the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship.
  2002
• University of Chicago Big Brains interview Presents Polsky's account of his engineering education, immigration, entrepreneurship, energy career, and views on renewable energy and innovation.
  2018
• Evergreen Climate Innovations biography Documents Polsky's education, founding and leadership of SkyGen and Invenergy, Calpine service, professional memberships, university philanthropy, and civic board participation.
• Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights award announcement Announces Polsky as a 2022 Ripple of Hope Award laureate.
  2022