Private Equity Education Gets Boost with $5 Million Gift

The gift will establish the Svider Private Equity Program at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Since its creation in 1998, the Polsky Center has established itself as a leading resource for Chicago Booth students and alumni interested in private equity. The center leverages the expertise of Chicago Booth’s faculty, which includes top private equity practitioners and researchers, most notably Steve Kaplan, faculty director of the Polsky Center and Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance. Kaplan has gained worldwide distinction as a cutting-edge researcher in private equity, publishing papers on the subject in leading academic and business journals.

“Raymond’s generous gift will allow us to even better support the aspirations of our students and alumni in the private equity space, across the globe,” said Kaplan. “The Svider Private Equity Program will greatly expand our ability to offer innovative hands-on and academic learning opportunities to complement the fundamentals of the classroom.”

Over the years, the Polsky Center has seen increased demand from students and alumni for programming in private equity. Long-standing programs—such as the Elfman-Wareham Private Equity and Venture Capital Lab, the Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company Private Equity Conference, and the Sterling Partners Investment Thesis Challenge—have grown in both size and scope as the Polsky Center has continued to augment its offerings. Today, some 300 students compete for entry to the Private Equity and Venture Capital Lab, which combines an intensive internship at a private equity firm with an academic course. The number of students who secure internships through this program has more than doubled in the past five years—from 53 students in 2015 to 116 in 2017.